Headhunters
by zTiamaTz
Summary: Xander decides to follow Buffy up to the roof to help her fight the Master. The end result leaves him and Cordelia on the front lines of a whole different war.
1. You Are the Support, Son

**Headhunters**

**zTiamaTz**

**Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel the Series, along with the characters from their respective shows are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.**

**Description: Xander decides to follow Buffy up to the roof to help her fight the Master. The end result, leaves he, and Cordelia on the front lines of a whole different war.**

**A/N: Further disclaimers will be added, as they appear in later chapters.**

**A/N 2: This will be from Xander's POV until otherwise noted.**

**=H=H=**

**YOU ARE THE SUPPORT, SON**

**=H=H=**

"Are we really going to let her face him alone?" I asked Angel, as he stared at the doorway to the stairwell Buffy had passed through a few minutes ago.

"She told us to stay here, and take care of any vamps that try to interfere."

"Yeah, and fifteen minutes ago the Master _killed_ her."

He looked down at the floor. I could tell he knew I was right. "Let's go." Angel said simply as he started towards the stairs.

As I reached the roof a step behind Angel, I saw Buffy, and The Master exchanging blows next to the large skylight over the library. All I had was the cross I'd used on Angel earlier, but I figured maybe I could distract him long enough for Buff to stake his ass. I ran up to smack him in the head, but instead, I was greeted by a back hand that threw me into the side of the skylight. As I tried to get my bearings, a muffled scream from below caught my attention and I peered through the glass.

"Angel, get over here!" I screamed, staring at the horror down below. Some kind of three-headed demon had broken through the floor of the library, and it was trying to pull Willow towards one of it's mouths. Miss Calender was desperately holding onto her, but it looked like a losing battle.

To their left, I could see Giles dodging out of the way of another huge head. He at least, had an axe. The third seemed to be focusing on something near the entrance doors that I couldn't see. Just then, I felt Angel stop dead next to me.

"What the hell?" He asked in disbelief at the scene below.

"That's the general idea dead-boy." I replied as I smashed the glass with the cross I had somehow managed to hold onto. I started to clear it away so I could get in there.

Angel gave me a dirty look and then realized what I was doing. "Are you crazy Xander?" As I slung a leg over the opening. "You're going to break your legs, maybe even..." Angel's argument died as four vampires came onto the roof, eager to help the Master with Buffy.

I tossed the cross at one of the vamps, beaning her in the side of the head with it. I watched in satisfaction, as she screamed, and grabbed her face in pain.

"Here!" Angel turned around and I held out my hand to him. "Drop me down as far as you can." He gave me an incredulous look before taking my hand and starting to lower me over the side. I looked down to see where I could land, without killing myself, and tried to formulate a plan that didn't involve dying horribly. I didn't get very far, when I felt a jerk and I almost lost my grip on Angel's hand.

"Angel what the-" My scream of anger was cut off, as I saw that Angel holding on as best he could, even though he had at least two vamps beating the crap out of him. He couldn't hold out much longer so I decided to just let go.

I landed on the floor hard, but didn't seem to be hurt too badly. Using one of the stacks to pull myself to my feet, I moved forward to find the nearest weapon available.

**=H=H=**

"Xander!" I looked a couple of feet away and saw Miss Calender holding onto Willow. Obviously too afraid of losing the girl, to try and pry the tentacle from her ankle. They were getting dangerously close to that mouth.

"Xander!"

"I'm coming!" I scrambled, looking for a weapon as I moved towards them, and came up with a small dagger. "Better then nothing I guess..." I muttered, as I stabbed it down into the tentacle, and then sawed through the rest of it, finally freeing Willow.

"I'm going to try to help Giles." I hurried around the railing towards him. Looking over my shoulder I saw Miss Calender dragging Willow back. "Miss Calender, see if you can find some kind of spell to get rid of this thing!"

I ran forward, determined to stab through the demon's neck like I had the tentacle moments before. Instead, I stumbled over the damn thing when it went low, and tried for a bite at Giles' leg. As I got up I heard a scream and noticed Cordelia for the first time. She was at the front doors, trying to hold them shut, and keep out what must have been vampires. She seemed to be doing okay, since the third head couldn't reach her and the doors were holding.

My moment of inattention cost me, as the demon's neck slammed me to the floor after another lunge at Giles. Just then, a body came crashing through the skylight and landed on the upturned table, impaling itself.

I had just enough time to realize it was the Master when something black came shooting out of his mouth, and then the rest of his body.

That's when I heard Cordelia scream again, this time in terror. I looked back at her again, and saw the heads and tentacles of the demon retreating back into the Hellmouth. That would have been great, except that several tentacles had managed to wrap themselves around Cordelia's legs in a last ditch effort to get a meal.

"Giles!" I screamed to get his attention as I scrambled to stop her from being dragged in. I jumped on top of her, hoping my weight would slow her down. I tried desperately to grab onto anything I could to stop our momentum. As we went over the side, with Cordelia screaming in my ear, I grabbed a hold of something. Looking up, I saw that I had latched onto the handle of Giles' axe, and he was holding onto the other end for dear life.

"Pull us up!" Cordelia was screaming frantically, her arms were wrapped around me so tightly, I didn't think I'd be able to breathe much longer. The demon clung desperately to her, the sound of it baying for it's meal, pushed her panic even further.

I could hear Giles frantically calling for anyone to help him pull us up. His left hand was bleeding badly where he held the blade. I was really grateful to see that it wouldn't stop him from trying to hold on though. But soon, it just became too much. As Willow and Miss Calender reached him, he suddenly lost his grip and we fell. I wondered what hell would be like and then it all went black.

**00000**

**==Elsewhere==**

_"Are we going to allow them to enter hell?"_

_"No, they are too useful to our fight, they have destiny's to fulfill."_

_"Useful? The boy has ruined prophecy, and will do so again! The girl will become the vessel of the fallen one!"_

_"If we allow them to enter hell, they will become very powerful. They will return far worse."_

_"Then we must find a way make them useful to our cause."_

_"Agreed."_

**00000**

**END**


	2. Green as Grass

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**GREEN AS GRASS**

**=H=H=**

I woke up to a hard shove in the side, but ignored it, as my pounding headache seemed to be the priority for the moment.

"Get off me you loser!"

"Ah!" A too familiar voice had me scrambling backwards, quicker then I thought possible.

I looked around to see we were in the middle of a deserted street, and then over to Cordelia, who was getting off the ground, and trying in vain to dust off what was left of her clothes. They were torn in several places, and covered in some kind of slime that I didn't want to know about. I looked down, mine were in better shape, but then again, I hadn't had demon tentacles wrapped around me either.

"This is all _your_ fault!"

"_My_ fault?" I replied in disbelief, I had just risked my life to save her after all. "I don't even know what _you_ were doing in the library!"

"What _I_ was doing?" She asked as she walked up, right in my face. "I was saving Willow, and Miss Calender from a bunch of _freaking_ vampires! I had to drive my car through _two_ sets of school doors to do it too! Do you have any idea how much that's going to cost to fix?"

"Cordelia..." She seemed set on ripping me a new one, and all I could do was shake my head. We had just been drug into the Hellmouth, and all she could worry about was the shape her car was in.

I stood there, and waited for her to decide my dignity had been sufficiently shredded. While I waited, I started to check out our surroundings. The sky was hazy, like the smog in LA, but thicker. While the sun was visible, the haze was thick enough that I could stare straight at it without hurting my eyes.

As I turned my attention to the town we were in, I saw that it had definitely seen better days. While some of the buildings looked like they had been blown up, most of them appeared to be intact. Regardless, it was clear something bad had gone down here.

"Are you ignoring me?" I broke off my assessment, and was about to reply, when Cordelia smacked me in the back of the head.

"Are you out of your mind?" I asked angrily as I spun around to face her. "We just got dragged into the Hellmouth, and almost eaten. Now, all you can do is stand there and yell at me?" She opened her mouth to interrupt, but I cut her off. "I jumped on top of you and got dragged right down here with you. Now all you can do is hit me? Thanks for the show of gratitude!"

I stalked away, towards a building I had seen earlier with it's door ajar. "Of all the people to be stuck in hell with, it just had to be Queen _freakin'_ C!"

"I'm sorry, okay!" She shouted at my back.

I had just opened the door when I had heard her, and stopped. I'd never expected to hear those words come out of her mouth. I'd known the girl since kindergarten, even then, she'd been a world-class bitch.

"Then quit screaming at me and help me check this house out." I called over my shoulder as I walked into the darkened room on guard. I heard her footsteps coming towards the doorway, and I hoped she'd keep her mouth shut long enough for me to at least _try_ to figure out where we were.

"Here, I found this on the ground out there." She said quietly. I turned to look at what she had and saw the axe that I'd held onto as we dangled over the Hellmouth. The upper part of the blade still covered with Giles' drying blood.

"Thanks." I replied, giving her a small smile, and hoped that would keep her temper down for awhile. I saw that she was shivering slightly, and that's when I felt how chilly it was. Since I had a t-shirt underneath a long sleeved one, I hadn't really noticed it until now.

Keeping the axe at the ready, we searched the house. It looked like the owners had left suddenly, and never come back. After going into a few more houses, and even a store, we'd quickly realized that the whole town had been abandoned. On the bright side, I'd found Cordy a red jacket in a closet while we searched. It had what I thought was a cougar on the back, and I figured it was for some kind of sports team.

I'd also noticed a familiar theme along the way. Bullet holes, lots of them. They were paired with the occasional patches of dark stains on the floors, and the surrounding areas. If that wasn't disturbing enough, there were smears across the ground, like the bodies had been dragged away.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that something nasty had gone on in this town. Cordelia seemed oblivious to it all, mostly just commenting on how dirty the buildings were. For the moment, I took it as a blessing.

**=H=H=**

"None of these places have running water." Cordelia complained, as we walked out of the latest empty house.

"Well, they've been abandoned for awhile, I guess we'll have to hold off on a bath until we can find a swimming pool, or something around here." I glanced over at her and noticed she looked uncomfortable. "Or you could just use a toilet in one of the houses we've checked out."

"Ick," A look of disgust crossed her face. "No way buddy, every toilet I've seen has been backed up with God knows what. Are you some kind of pig?"

"Well how about a nice convenient bush?" She seemed unimpressed with my suggestion, so I decided to try another. "Or I know, I'll find you a shovel and you can dig your own latrine. How's that sound?"

She raised her eyebrow, and stared at me like I was a bug. I couldn't help it, I started giggling like an idiot. Happy to forget the situation we were in, even for a few minutes.

"This is _not_ funny!" She yelled as she took a swipe at me, which I easily ducked.

"C'mon Cor, I fight vampires. You're gonna have to try harder then that." I taunted her, as I tried to catch my breath. "Give me _some_ credit at least."

"Give me the axe then." She pointed to where I had it casually slung over my shoulder.

"Why?" I asked innocently. "You need a shovel to dig a latrine."

Her face turned bright red, and I knew she was going to explode. I did the only sane thing a man in my position could do. I ran like hell.

"Xander Harris I am going to _kill_ you!"

**=H=H=**

"This place is really strange." I told Cordelia, as we came out of yet another house while looking for supplies. It had taken an hour long fight to finally settle our differences. After retrieving the axe from it's hiding place, I had agreed to letting her carry it, only _after_ she promised not to hit me, even with the blunt end. Now, we continued the house to house search for whatever we could find.

"Of course it's strange, we fell into a demon hole. Where were we supposed to land, Beverly Hills?" She replied, still angry over having to use a backed-up toilet.

"I'm serious Cor, look around. These buildings are all made of stone and wood. Do you see any modern-looking buildings anywhere around here?" I asked as I swept my hand around the area to emphasize my point.

"So? This place is a little behind the times, what's the big deal?"

"It looks like we're back in the middle ages or something. But there are power lines, fire hydrants, and cars that look more advanced then anything _I've_ ever seen before. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

"Well, maybe we're in some kind of backwards European town. Have you ever been to Paris? That city is crazy, there are buildings with doorways sometimes inches, from where cars drive by." She explained, trying to be helpful.

I stared at her, wondering if the bimbo act really was just an act. "And _when_ exactly, would I have had the chance to go to Paris? You've made it your mission in life to remind me of how poor I supposedly am, remember?"

"I said I was _sorry_ before, didn't I?" She replied, clearly annoyed that her suggestion had fallen on deaf ears. "Why do you think I picked on you so much? It was nice to have someone who could give, as good as they got, unlike those hopeless _sheep_ I hang out with."

Not sure if I should feel insulted, or not, I sat down on a nearby bench. Dropping the pack full of bottled water, and the odd can of food that we had managed to scrounge down next to me. I looked up at her and decided to let her have it.

"I never saw Willow have any snappy comebacks for you, yet she was your number one target. Care to explain _that one_ Queen C?"

Cordelia's eyes narrowed. "I don't have to explain anything to you loser." She stated venomously. "And maybe I wouldn't call you poor if you didn't dress like the town idiot.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked, looking down at the black, long sleeved t-shirt, and jeans, along with a pair of black work boots.

Cordelia took her time, looking me up and down. I could tell she was simply considering the best way to verbally castrate me. Or maybe physically, since she was still holding the axe.

Just as she opened her mouth, I cut her off. "You know what, on second thought, I don't want to know. Honestly, I really could care less."

"Don't want to hear the truth dork-head?" She asked, ready to pounce again.

"No, I realized it's kind of stupid to discuss fashion, when we're in the middle of what could be hell. Plus, it's already getting dark."

She looked up with a frown, as the hazy sky was indeed darker then she remembered, just a few minutes ago. She turned to me and asked, "What are we going to do for the night?"

"I saw a house about half-way down the block, that had a couple of upstairs bedrooms that looked to be in pretty good shape. I think that's our best bet for the night." One that did _not_ have bloodstains or bullet holes in it either. I thought, as I grabbed the supply pack and headed down the street to what I hoped would only be a temporary home.

As we entered the house, I dropped the pack on the kitchen table and grabbed a chair from the dining room to jam under the doorknob. "Check, and make sure all the windows are locked." I told Cordelia as I took a second chair to do the same to the back door.

"Why?" She took several candles we had found in a house earlier out of her jacket pocket. "This place is obviously deserted, I haven't seen so much as a stray cat in this dump of a town since we've been here." She snarked, and caught the lighter I tossed her.

"That was in daylight, what if there are vamps around here? They could just walk right in if they wanted." I emphasized my point by giving the chair a hard nudge until it was firmly in place under the back door knob.

"Giles told me, during one of his _boring_ speeches, that vampires needed an invite to get into your house. Why the heck should I listen to you?" She asked, and then looked on smugly as she waited for my reply.

"You said it yourself Cor, _your_ house. Just because we're spending the night in this place, doesn't make it ours. For all I know, we'd have to have one of our names on the deed, since the owner is most likely dead."

"Oh, so mister vampire expert doesn't know something. How surprising."

"I never said I was." I replied, as I started checking the windows myself. "I live with my parents just like you do, I never really had a reason to ask. Besides, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can eat."

Behind me I heard her give out an exasperated sigh and walk away. I couldn't help but smile, as she stomped upstairs to lock the windows.

**=H=H=**

"This is most disgusting thing I have ever seen." Cordelia said as she looked down into a can of mystery meat.

Reaching across the table, I plucked the can from her hand and gave it a sniff. While not exactly the _freshest_ meal I'd ever seen, living in the Harris household taught me not to be especially choosy on where my next meal came from. I dug my fork in and took a bite.

"I stand corrected." She said with a look of complete disdain.

"I could give you a list." I offered helpfully.

"Just shut up, and give me a different can you dweeb."

I leaned over and stuck my hand into the bag and pulled out a random can. After opening it up with a knife I'd found in a drawer, I looked down, and smiled when I saw it's contents.

"You're in luck Cor."

"_Really?_" She asked, looking way too excited over a can of food. "What is it?"

"Lima beans." I replied cheerfully.

"You..." She started, murder in her eyes.

"Sorry princess, I don't think we'll come across a can of fish eggs around here." I told her as I set the beans down, and went for another fork-full of the mystery meat. I looked over to the small fireplace in the living room, and I thought about starting a fire to at least warm it up, but I was just too tired to bother.

"At least I'm not eating dog food."

"You're absolutely right, this is indeed dog food." I said with a smile. "You win a prize."

"What's the prize?"

"Lima beans."

**=H=H=**

I sighed contentedly, as I finished changing the sheets on the bed in one of the smaller bedrooms. A full stomach from the lima beans, and dog food, along with a clean bed to sleep in had me in a better mood then I expected. I had even convinced Cordelia not to strangle me, it hadn't taken much, once I found a can of sliced peaches for her. I could tell she was in a much better mood as well, now that she had something in her stomach.

A series of loud thumps, and the sound of something breaking made me change my mind on that though. I picked up my candle and figured she wasn't in danger, or she'd have been screaming by now. After some hesitation, I decided to knock on the door to the bedroom she had chosen, to see what was the matter.

After getting no reply, I decided to try my luck with words. "Cor, what's wrong?" I asked, hoping there was enough concern in my voice to placate her.

The door was pulled away from me and I suddenly found myself face to face with Queen C.

"_What_?" She asked, obviously annoyed by my interruption.

"I heard some noises, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

She stared at me for a moment, and sighed. "I need a _shower_, my clothes are _destroyed_, and my feet are freaking _killing me_."

I took a look at her clothes, I could see her once white, sweater was now bordering on dark gray. The light purple slacks had several tears in them, and the demon slime had crusted in swirls. Her feet were bright red, and slightly swollen. I scanned across the floor, and saw her shoes. Leather dress shoes, with heels. I couldn't believe she had walked in those things all day.

"Those shoes are going to have to go." I said simply.

"What? No Xander, I am _not_ getting rid of them."

"Cor, you realize we might be in hell right? Do you really think the little devil that's poking you in the ass with a pitchfork is going to stop and ask you where you got them? Unless you plan on wearing them around the house like a pair of slippers, they're worthless."

"Are you nuts?" Cordelia asked, exasperated that I would make such a suggestion. "Those shoes cost more then your father-"

I cut her off by putting my right fist through the wall next to me. "Not. Another. Word." I growled at her.

She nodded, cowed by my sudden outburst. It reminded me of my mother's behavior around my father. I instantly regretted that I had caused her to act that way.

"I'm sorry Cordy." I took her hand, holding it lightly and looked her strait in the eyes. "I really don't want you to be afraid of me. We may not get along that great, but that is the _last_ thing I want. I hope you believe me, when I say that."

"Yeah doofus." She said with a smile. "You may be a loser, but I know that's not who you are."

Sighing in relief, I led her over to the bed and sat down next to her. "I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know where we are, and I don't know when we're going to get home. For all I know, Giles will have a portal open for us tomorrow and you can keep whatever shoes you want. But there is a _real_ possibility we could be here for awhile, I just don't know."

I held my breath, praying I hadn't just destroyed every bit of hope she had left.

"If we're going to be here for awhile, I'm going to need a new wardrobe. I am _not_ going to wear those things any longer then I have to." She pointed over to the drawers, which no doubt held the former occupant's clothing.

I groaned as I got up, and let go of her hand. "Fine Cor, tomorrow, I'll take you shopping." I said, as I walked towards my room to finally get some sleep.

**=H=H=**

**END**


	3. Broken Fingers

**Headhunters**

**zTiamaTz**

**=H=H=**

**BROKEN FINGERS**

**=H=H=**

I opened my eyes, and saw a blank ceiling, which was strange, since I was used to seeing the poster of Kristy Swanson in a pink and black bathing suit staring back at me. I groaned as I remembered just exactly where I was. Getting up, I decided since we were going 'shopping' today, I'd see if I could find a poster of hell's answer to Kristy.

I stripped off the pajamas I'd found in the room Cordy had taken, and quickly changed into the clothes she had decided I should wear today. I really needed to get some clothes that actually fit though, the guy who owned the house was a lot smaller then me.

I walked out into the hallway, and held my ear up to Cordelia's door to see if she was awake. All I could hear was snoring, who knew? I knocked on the door a few times but got no response.

Opening the door, I saw her sleeping, a blanket curled tightly around her. Walking closer, I called out to her, but got more snoring in response.

Normally, I'd leave her be, but she had made me promise to wake her, so we could get an early start. I sighed, this was like trying to disarm a landmine without the know-how.

I shook her shoulder lightly. "Cor." I got nothing but a snort and she turned away from me. I _so_ did not need this hassle.

"C'mon Cor wake up." This time I tried a nudge.

Cordelia let out a scream, as she jumped to her feet on the other side of the bed, pulling the blanket with her.

"That didn't work out like I planned."

"What are you doing in here!" The glare she gave could stop a vamp in it's tracks.

Oh yeah, she was pissed. I tried desperately to keep my face neutral, I knew any show of fear would make her charge.

"Xander Harris what the hell did you think you were doing!"

"Um, waking you up?"

"Oh is that all? Why didn't you just shake the bed and scream earthquake? I'm sure that would have had the same effect you oaf!"

"Good morning to you to, snoring beauty."

"What? I do not." She hissed as she threw the blanket at me.

"Yes you... Oh my God, what the hell are you wearing?" I didn't know if I should laugh, or cry. The clothes I wore were maybe two sizes too small. The flowered monstrosity Cordy was wearing was _at least_ four times larger then she was. Now I knew what all the banging was about last night.

"It was the only thing I could find! All the stuff the guy had was itchy, I couldn't sleep!"

It was a perfectly reasonable explanation, one that I could completely understand, given the circumstances. It didn't matter though, I burst out laughing.

She stomped towards me, the thing swirled around her, like it was alive. This just made me laugh even harder. She grabbed my arm and neck shoving me out the door, hard. My head smacked against the wall and I landed on my ass. I just sat there stunned.

"Are you done now?"

I turned around and looked up at her. She glared down at me, the thing flared out like a wall. There was no escape and my lip quivered, as I realized I was trapped.

"Well?" She asked sharply.

I laughed in her face. I knew I was making a huge mistake, but at that moment, I couldn't care less. I watched helplessly, as the flower monster engulfed me, and I felt Cordelia's hands wrap around my throat.

I didn't think things could get much worse, and then I remembered I still had to take her 'shopping' today. It was going to be a _long_ day.

**=H=H=**

I sat at the table rubbing my neck, I couldn't believe how strong Cordy's grip was. I'd seen my life flash before my eyes, and being a virgin had made it _very_ boring.

I was broken from my thoughts by the sound of Cordelia stomping down the stairs. As she came into view I saw she was wearing a blue sweatshirt and a pair of dress pants that were rolled up several times around her ankles.

She stopped in front of the table and stared at me for a moment. "I'm used to wearing silk." She stated simply.

"What?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I normally wear silk to bed. The reason why I was wearing that- that _thing_, was because I couldn't stand the material of the kind of pajamas you wore."

"Okay."

"Okay!" She screamed. "You make me feel like an idiot for wearing that _abomination_ to bed, and all you can say is okay?"

I sighed. "Cor, what do you want me to say?"

"You can _start_ with an apology."

"Start with?" I did not like where this was going.

"You think I'd let you off the hook that easy loser?"

"I apologize Cor. It was wrong of me to make fun of you for wearing that-"

"You're just digging your grave that much deeper mister."

"Oh great Queen C, I was horribly mistaken in questioning your utter perfection. Please accept my humble apology, and I beg you to let me continue to bask in your wonderfulness."

She stood there staring at me, analyzing everything I said. Finally, she gave her verdict.

"Wow, this just proves even dork's can be trained." She stated with a big smile.

I put my head down, and started to bang it against the tabletop. The things I did to keep the peace.

"So dork, now that you've been put in your place, where's my breakfast?"

**=H=H=**

The air was chilly, I wasn't sure if was the beginning or end of winter. I was definitely hoping for the latter. The sun was out, but the ever-present haze seemed to keep it from being very warm.

Cor was wearing the jacket I had found for her yesterday. Seeing her wear the over-sized clothes, that definitely did not make a Paris runway made me grin. I thought it was ironic, after all the cracks she had made about my fashion sense over the years.

The men's clothing I had found in the house fit me okay, a little tight in places maybe, but nothing I couldn't deal with. I'd even managed to find a jacket for myself as well.

Officially, we were on this little trip to get Cordy some clothes she would actually agree to wear. Unofficially, I wanted to explore the area around us anyway, but if this made her happy, I wasn't going to complain.

We'd been trudging down streets at random for a few hours now, and hadn't had much luck so far. We were on the hunt for the town's business district, or at the very least, a clothing store. As we walked, we'd quickly realized that the town was actually a small city.

I had the axe slung over my shoulder, and I hoped I wouldn't have a need to use it any time soon. My eyes scanned from side to side as we walked down another deserted street, looking for anything that could be a threat, the area we were in definitely had me spooked.

The only sound besides our footsteps was the small, child's wagon Cordelia pulled behind us. A paint can we'd found earlier, and put to use marking our path rattled around inside it. She stayed in step with me, keeping up easily in the sneakers I had convinced her to wear. She was seemingly oblivious to the damage around us though.

The further away we got from the house, the worse things seemed to be. Instead of the usual, now we had sandbag bunkers, and completely destroyed buildings to go with the bullet holes, and bloodstains. It was definitely doing wonders for my nerves.

Yesterday, I could pretend the bullet holes were from what had been a bad neighborhood, gangs, or something. But now, it was plainly obvious that a war of some kind had taken place here. The thing that continued to bug me though, was what had happened to all the bodies. The fact that it looked like they had been dragged away really creeped me out. And even _if_ it had happened several years ago, there should have been some signs.

"Can we take a break Xander?" Cordelia asked. "My feet are still killing me from yesterday."

After this morning, we were both taking it easy on the insults, at least for the time being.

"Yeah, I think we could both use one." I replied and watched her abruptly let go of the wagon and walk over to the curb on the right side of the street to sit down.

I took a look around us, and eyed a building on the other side of the street. Half of the roof had collapsed into itself, but the other half looked more or less intact. What had caught my attention though, was a symbol, seemingly spray painted onto the wall near the door. A red circle with little notches along the outside edge.

Thinking back, I had seen these symbols, or at least pieces of them before, as we walked along, several times before on our trip. As far as I could remember, they were all on buildings that had been torn apart. My curiosity piqued, I hefted the axe and started walking toward it.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to check inside this building while you rest Cor. I won't be long, promise." I told her, as I stopped in front of the door. "Just keep an eye out, and yell if something happens."

Looking back, I saw her pull the large butcher knife she had found, out of the makeshift sheath I had made for it. I thought it looked sexy the way it hung off her hip. I really didn't think she'd be able to do much with it if she ever had to, but if it made her feel safe, I was all for it.

"Fine, just don't take too long. I don't want to be in these clothes any longer then I have to." She stuck her tongue out to emphasize her feelings.

"Is that an offer?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows at her.

"I'm going to do _you_ a favor, and pretend _I_ didn't hear that." She shot back, holding up her knife threateningly.

Grinning, I turned my attention back to the door and found that it was locked. Leaning the axe against the wall, I decided I was feeling manly. I took a step back, and tried to kick it in. Unfortunately, my manliness quickly disappeared when I stumbled back, and ended up on my ass. I heard clapping and looked back to Cordy once again.

"Way to go geek, try not to break anything. I'm going to need you to carry all the clothes we find back to the house."

I got up and dusted myself off. It sure hadn't taken long for Queen C to make her comeback. "You wanna have a go at this Cor?"

"No thanks," She said with a smile. "This is probably the most entertaining thing I'll see all day."

Sighing, I turned once again to the door. I had kicked it dead center, and all I had to show for my trouble was a boot print and a bruised ego. I sized it up and realized my mistake. Instead of aiming for the center like in the movies, I should have aimed for the lock on the left side.

Testing my new theory, I gave the door another hard kick, and was pleased to hear a loud crack. I gave it one more, and the door flew open.

Grabbing the axe, I made my way into the first room. The right side was nothing but rubble, no surprise there. Turning to the left side of the room, I saw what looked to be a huge communications station was built into the wall.

It reminded me of the bridge of a Navy ship my Uncle Rory had taken me to see in LA, when I was a kid. The downside though was that half the thing was badly burned, and I doubted it would work even if I knew how to fix it.

As I took a closer look at the damage, I noticed a cable leading from the console to the next room. I moved on, and found a small kitchen with plenty of cabinets. The problem was that half of them were charred. Turning towards the cable, I saw it ran to a door on the right that had a set of stairs leading down, but it was blocked off by debris.

I thought about it, the cable probably led to a generator. If they were storing gasoline down there with it, that could explain all the damage. Considering this was a war zone, it made a whole lot of sense. Tossing my empty pack onto the kitchen table, I went back outside to get Cordy.

Sticking my head out the door, I saw her across the street actually keeping watch, it was nice to see her taking the situation seriously. Even though she had been annoying me for years, I couldn't help but worry about her.

"Hey Cor!" She turned and started walking towards me. "I found some stuff in a kitchen, why don't you start packing it up, while I finish checking this place out." As she followed me in I showed her the console I had found.

"Do you think we can get it working?" She asked, a note of excitement in her voice.

"Would be nice, but no, it's totaled. There was some kind of explosion in the basement, that's why half the building is collapsed."

"Then why are you wasting my time? Show me where the food is." She stood there, with her hands on her hips, waiting for me to move.

After showing her the kitchen, I moved on to another room, and found an office. It had files scattered around a desk, and on the floor. Most seemed to have edges missing, or holes burnt into them, but I could make out the same symbol I had seen outside on the wall. Leaving the axe on the ruined desk, I rifled through several cabinets, but it looked like they had been emptied.

Finally turning my attention to the desk, I was disappointed to find the drawers filled with boring office stuff. Then I got to the last one, it was locked.

I gave it a few hard yanks, but it wouldn't budge. Annoyed, I pushed the desk further away from the wall and hefted the axe. I lined it up with the lock embedded in the drawer, and took a few practice swings.

I then slammed the axe into the lock and it popped right out. I tossed it aside, and ripped the drawer open. I couldn't believe how excited I was over a locked drawer. Looking inside, I found a bunch of junk, and a half-bottle of whiskey, _great_. If this day got any worse, I could always take up drinking.

"What the heck was that?" Cordy asked, as standing in the doorway, with her knife at the ready.

"Relax Cor. There was a locked desk drawer, I used the axe on it." I sat down on the ground with my back against the wall, feeling disgusted. All that buildup for nothing.

She put the knife away, as she walked into the room. After waiting several seconds for a reply, she placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward. "Well?"

I saw the annoyance on her face, and I could hear her foot tapping on the other side. "It's just office stuff and some whiskey, I was hoping there would be something useful."

"Give it to me, I'll stick it in the bag with the other things." She held out her hand.

I leaned forward grabbing the bottle out of the drawer, and rolled it across the desk to her. "Find anything good in there?"

"Yeah, the stuff that didn't explode, or melt looks pretty good. You did something right, nice job dweeb." She said with a smile.

I groaned. "And the compliments just keep rolling in."

"Don't expect another anytime soon, I don't want you to think I actually like you." With that said, she walked back into the kitchen.

I looked up at the ceiling, and hoped someone was listening. "Why me?"

**=H=H=**

After realizing I wasn't going to get a response, I dragged myself to my feet, and looked around at all the files on the floor. Deciding that they might give us some idea of where we were, and what the hell was going on, I gathered them up into a nice pile on the desk, before turning my attention to the last room.

I stepped up to the doorway and noticed it was filled with bunk beds. There were some sets of black fatigues which I gathered up as I went along, and what looked like personal items of whoever had lived here. None of it looked particularly useful, so I left it be.

I was disappointed that I hadn't really found anything in here. As I passed the last bunk, and turned to go back towards the office, my boot caught something with a metallic thunk. I looked down, and saw some kind of canister roll along the floor until it was stopped abruptly by what looked to be an armor encased hand.

"Shit." There went my good mood. I crouched down, and placed my findings on a bunk next to me. Turning my attention to the hand, I saw the guy was almost completely buried. I looked to the left and saw his other arm as well.

He had fallen on his stomach, probably trying to escape the collapse. I could see the gouge marks in the floor where he had tried to claw his way out, poor bastard.

The armor itself was black, with light blue accents. As I started to move some of the rubble away, a helmet became visible, which I was thankful for. He also had body armor that matched with what I had already seen. Unfortunately his neck was exposed, and I could tell he'd been here for a _very_ long time.

There was something on his back, and I moved some of the smaller pieces of ceiling out of the way. It was some kind of gun, but it was trashed from the collapse. When I had fully exposed it, it slid off his back and onto the floor with a clatter.

That's when I remembered the canister that had caused me to discover this guy to begin with. I picked it up, and realized that it was some kind of fire extinguisher. He had been trying to put the fire out when this happened. That meant the building had already been hit, he was a hero.

I decided I was going to bury him, he was a soldier after all. If something had happened to my Uncle Rory in Vietnam, I'd hope someone would have done the same for him.

My mind made up, I continued to clear the rubble away and that's when I saw it. A pistol inside a waist holster. As I pulled it out, I realized how big the thing was. It was gray and black and had some kind of small sight on it.

Putting it aside, I went to finish the job I had started. The problem was, there was a huge beam lying across his legs. It was so heavy, it had actually caused the armor to buckle, crushing the armor down into his legs. Even if I got Cordelia to help, which I really did not want to do, there was no way we'd be able to pull him loose.

Sighing in resignation, I did the only thing I could do. I started to pile the rubble back around him, and grabbed more from behind. It took me twenty minutes, but I had managed to completely cover him.

It wasn't a proper burial, but it was better then nothing. I gave a small nod of thanks to the soldier for the pistol, and hoped my being here wouldn't bring whatever had taken everyone else in this city.

I took one last look around, seeing some old newspapers sitting under a bed and decided to grab them. Hopefully, we could get some more info about this place.

As I did, I noticed something in color sticking out the side of the pile. Pulling it out, I discovered it was a magazine and let the papers drop to the floor.

On the cover was a woman in a camouflage bikini bottom holding a big machine gun. I had just found an issue of 'The Girls of Gears', and I instantly forgot all about shopping.

**=H=H=**

**Disclaimer: Gears of War, along with the characters, weapons and vehicles from the game are owned by Epic Games.**

**=H=H=**

**END**


	4. Always Remember Your First

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST**

**=H=H=**

Cordelia glared at me. "I know you Harris, you are just _dying_ to see me naked!"

I shook my head, the day had started out so nicely. We had both actually found something we liked to eat for breakfast, and had done so without a fight. As we searched for a store that hadn't been picked clean, we discovered a park several blocks from the house.

Inside, we had found a small pond. The water looked surprisingly clear, considering the condition of the rest of the city. All I'd done, was suggest it would be a good idea for us to get cleaned up.

"I hate to break it to you Cor, but it wasn't me that was always falling all over myself to get in your pants, that was Jesse. You remember him don't you? My now dead, best friend who I had to stake to save you?" I asked accusingly.

"You are such an asshole!"

I felt a headache coming on, this had gone downhill real fast. "Just stop, okay Cor? I'm sorry for snapping at you. Now please, tell me what this is really about?"

She was silent for a moment, probably trying to decide if she wanted to talk, or to continue our argument. "I was looking at their pictures."

"Why were you looking at-"

"Not _those_ pictures you idiot!" She screeched. "The people that owned the house we're squatting in. We're living in their house, sleeping in their beds, wearing their clothes..."

"We gotta live somewhere Cor, if not there, then it'd be someone else's house."

"I'm just sick of it." She tossed her axe to the ground. "I should be going to Paris next week!" She screamed out at the city.

I stood there, not sure what to do. Willow had always been the problem solver, the one with the answers. Now, I was in the middle of an abandoned city trying to keep a cheerleader from having a nervous breakdown.

"I'm sure Giles and the girls are doing everything they can to get us back." I said, in what I hoped was a comforting voice.

"Do you really believe that?"

"I told you that the first night we were here, I know they are doing _everything_ they can. But we should still plan for the fact that it might take some time."

"Yeah, you seemed to make plenty of _time_ for that magazine last night, didn't you?" She sniped.

"C'mon Cordy, shouldn't we be looking for a store instead of arguing about stupid stuff?"

"We probably would have found one by now if you weren't such a perv!"

"I cannot believe we are having an argument about this."

She narrowed her eyes. "Let me put it to you this way buster. If we don't find something decent _today_, you're going to be wearing one of those mu-mu's _tonight_." She jabbed her finger into my chest. "Got it?"

I just stood there and nodded. I needed to find something fast, pastels and flowers were _not_ my thing.

**=H=H=**

All I could think was that this city was crazy. Where we were staying, had nothing but old stone and wood buildings. Here, it was like we'd crossed a different city entirely.

While there was still the occasional stone and wood buildings, most in this area were made with concrete and steel. It also looked like it had been hit a lot harder too.

There were sand bag walls everywhere, including some on the lower roofs. There were huge holes blown into the sides of walls, and craters in the streets. There were even several blocks in a row, where every building had smoke and flame damage, as if someone had gone to each place and set it on fire.

I had felt spooked by the area where we had found that 'Gears' building. Here, I just felt dread. I wanted to get what we needed and get the hell out.

"Xander, look!"

I followed the direction she had pointed to, and saw some kind of vehicle had rammed into a storefront. I stepped up to get a closer look, the rear end was heavily damaged. Like something had shot it point blank with one of those wheeled guns, a howzer or something. I also marveled at the size of the wheel that was visible.

"What the hell is a monster truck doing here?"

"Check this out!" Cordy called from the side of the building.

I went to meet her, and see what she had found. She was standing at the mouth of an alley, staring at what I could only guess was the front end of the thing.

"What is this thing doofus?"

I took a look, and saw that the front of the vehicle had burst through the side here as well. What looked to be maybe a snowplow, a metallic tube, and another big-ass tire. I had to step back several feet to get a better look at it.

"It's a goddamn tank." I stared in disbelief.

"What?" Cordelia asked, confused.

"Some _idiot_ had the bright idea of putting monster truck wheels on a freaking tank Cor." I shook my head. Who _were_ these people?

I walked back to the front of the building, and took another look at it. The tank had come in at an angle, taking out almost the entire front of the store. The wall that was left, had windows that were mostly blocked off by debris. The top of tank had sheared off most of the sign, and I could see cracks where the second floor of the building had started to buckle over time.

Turning my attention back to the body of the tank, I could see what seemed to be a ladder in-between the two large wheels on the right side. I didn't want to climb through a window in a wall that looked like it could collapse at any time. Thinking it over, I decided I'd have to squeeze between the broken wall and the back wheel to get to it.

"What are you going to do?"

I grabbed one of the torches we'd made from her wagon. They were table legs, wrapped with rags soaked in a siphoned, gasoline-like liquid. Simple, but totally worth it.

"I want to see if I can get inside that tank, there might be some stuff in there we can use." I replied, and took off my backpack, jacket, and shoulder holster, hanging them over a fire hydrant.

"Are you sure? That building doesn't look very safe?"

"Aw Cor, it's good to know you care." I turned toward my target and tried to find the best way to get in there.

"Of course I care you goof..." She replied indignantly.

I started to squeeze myself between the tire and wall. "I care about you too, I'm glad-"

"If you get hurt, who's going to do all the manual labor?"

I choked off the rest of my reply, I couldn't believe I had just walked into that one. Looking back, I almost missed the smile she had. It disappeared once she saw me eying her, and I decided I'd wonder about that later.

I pulled my left foot through the gap and I stood there, a wall to my back, and a tank to my front. It was a good thing I wasn't claustrophobic. I got a better look at the tank, and saw the same symbol as what was on the 'Gears' building. The difference was, it was white, and had a skull in the middle of it. _How cute_.

I climbed the ladder, and found a hatch at the top of the body, next to the turret. Looking up, I could see it had torn through the ceiling into the second floor, I could actually see the ceiling above it. No wonder the building was buckling the way it was.

Turning my attention back to the hatch, I gave it a tug, but it wouldn't move. I laid the torch down next to me, and grabbed the wheel. After the third turn there was a releasing noise. Opening it, I was hit in the face with the most awful stench imaginable.

My stomach heaved as I pulled back, and I accidentally fell off the side of the tank, taking the torch with me. I hit the front tire on the way down, and then landed on my side, before I finally slammed onto the floor.

Immediately, I threw up, spewing creamed corn on the floor between the tires. Before the next wave hit, I managed to get to my hands and knees. The rest of my breakfast soon followed.

"Xander! Xander _answer me_!"

I coughed and spit, trying to clear my throat, and get the film off my tongue.

"Xan-der are you okay!" She sounded desperate.

I finally felt like I could speak, I felt bad for worrying her. "Yeah Cordy I'm fine! Just fell is all!"

"You jerk! If you ever make me think you are dead again, you had better be!"

I decided I'd have to think that one over. As I wiped my mouth clean with my sleeve, I looked up under the chassis, and saw a pair of legs standing just on the other side.

**=H=H=**

"Fuck!" I threw myself backwards, crawling until my back was against the wall.

"You wish buddy!"

"Not now Cor!" I watched the person, but they just stood there. I reached for the torch slowly, inching my right hand across the floor, never taking my eyes off of him. My left hand was reaching into my pocket for the lighter at the same time.

As my right gripped the torch I yanked it back. Immediately, I lit the torch, and realized the son of a bitch hadn't even moved. I was ready to set his pants on fire, when I noticed something. Either this guy had a pole up his ass, or he was a mannequin.

I laughed. I had faced vampires, robo-demon, a three-headed monster, and _nothing_ had scared me like a mannequin just had.

"What is _so_ funny about falling off a tank you moron!"

Her annoyance made it even funnier, but finally, after several threats against my manhood, I calmed down.

"Are you finished?" She asked in an icy tone.

"Yeah Cor. I want to let you know, I have good news and bad news. What do you want first?"

She sighed. "Fine, what's the bad news?"

"I pissed myself."

"Bad news for you maybe, I think it's hilarious."

"Thanks, really. I'm glad I have your support in my time of need."

"Shut up. What's the good news?"

"I don't have to worry about a change of clothes."

**=H=H=**

"Damn, this thing is going to kill my back." I complained, as I maneuvered the door carrying all of the stuff we had found around a wrecked car.

Cordelia looked over to me, and then back at the load I was dragging. "If you want, we can take a break."

I guessed she felt bad since all she had was a backpack, the wagon, and her axe.

Cordy's 'shopping' spree had been epic. We had so much stuff, we couldn't carry it all. I decided to improvise and took a door off it's hinges using a screwdriver I'd found. I had tied all the bags down with a rope to make sure they wouldn't budge, and then, I'd tied another to the door handle and made a loop that I put over my head and under my armpit so I could drag it along.

"It's okay, just keep an eye on it, so we don't lose anything."

I did not want to come back here for _any_ reason. After sealing the tank-turned-tomb back up, I had let Cordy pick out whatever she wanted for me. Just so we would be out of there as quickly as possible.

"I appreciate this dork. You know I would have been okay with making two trips, right?"

"Yeah Cor, thanks. But it feels like it's getting colder, winter could be coming. If that's the case, I really want to focus on other things from now on."

"I just don't-"

"Really, it's okay. I just want to get this out of the way."

"That makes sense, but-" Cordelia suddenly stopped and grabbed my arm. "Did you see that?"

As the door scraped to a halt behind me, I scanned the area. "What did you see?"

"I don't know," She pointed to her left. "I thought I saw someone move between those two houses over there."

The houses were about fifteen feet apart. All I saw was a dead tree, and some junk. "Are you sure, I don't see anything."

"Yes I'm sure. You think I'm making this up for _laughs_?"

Several loud, metallic clanks, like garbage cans being knocked over, came from behind building on the left.

Cordelia gasped, and backed up, axe at the ready.

"Stay here and watch my back Cor." I told her, as I pulled the rope up over my head, and off my arm. After grabbing my pistol, I flipped the safety off and walked toward the gap between the buildings.

Looking back and forth, I still couldn't see anything. I was already a few feet in between them when I heard something above me to my left, but I couldn't see anything.

"Xander." Cordy's voice cracked. "There's something up there."

I started to back up slowly, keeping the pistol aimed up at the roof line. "What is it?"

"I don't know, but it- it's holding onto the chimney right above you."

That did it. Self-preservation kicked my ego in the balls and I took off running. I was half-way to Cordelia when a inhuman screech came from above. Cor just stood there, watching it.

"Xander hurry up!" She screamed, her voice panicked.

That's when I heard it, the thud of something hitting the ground. There was no way I was lucky enough to have it trip and break it's neck. I knew I was screwed.

Cordelia was still standing there, so I grabbed her wrist and yanked her after me. I headed to the house right across the street. The door was closed, but that wasn't going to stop me.

I put my shoulder into the door, and slammed it open hard enough that we fell on the floor in a tangle, with Cordy on top of me. I shoved her off and kicked the door closed, then I jammed my boot up against it. Just then, something heavy slammed into it.

The thing kept banging at the door, it would start to open, and I'd have to slam it shut again. Afraid to try to get up, and take a chance that it would get in, I simply put my second foot up on the door.

Cordelia sat up, rubbing her arm. "What the hell is that thing?"

"No idea Cor, I still don't know what it looks like." I lay there and tried to catch my breath. "See if you can lock the door."

She stood up, and practically tiptoed up to the door. I could hear her working on the lock, but her back blocked my view. I must have really messed it up when I busted the door in.

It suddenly let out another one of those screeches, Cordy jumped back with a yelp, and right into the grip of another one. It had jammed it's arm and head through the glass of the window.

"Help me you jackass!"

"I'm holding the fucking door!" I watched helplessly, as she desperately tried to pull her arm away from it's clawed hand. "Cordelia use your knife!"

It was like she was possessed. She pulled herself as far away from the creature as she could and grabbed the butcher knife from it's sheath. She turned, and slashed at it with a vengeance. Every time she did, it made a sound like my dad's cigarette cough.

"See how you like it!" Cordelia's eyes blazed, her fear had turned to anger.

I was caught between holding the door, and watching Cordelia. I looked on as the thing let her go and tried to pull itself back out the window.

"Where do you think you're going?" Cor actually grabbed the things arm and pulled it back towards her. It realized it was now the hunted, and flailed around desperately, trying to get away. Now that it was at her mercy, she stabbed it in the head.

Almost instantly, the thumping on the door I'd been holding stopped. I got to my feet quickly, and tried to see what I could do with the lock.

I turned back to Cordy, and saw she hadn't stopped stabbing until she saw brain. I decided I'd have to be more careful when I bugged her from now on. As I watched, she casually shoved the creature back out the window.

I stifled a laugh as she looked down in disgust at the red-orange blood splattered across her.

"There's only one more out there." She said, an angry look on her face. "Whats the plan?"

**=H=H=**

I picked my pistol up off the floor and considered our options. I really didn't want to waste any bullets on this thing if I could help it. I peered through the window, and saw it was hopping back and forth around the yard. I realized these things weren't very bright.

"Shoot it already." She ordered.

"Here." I held the pistol out to Cordy, grip first, and waited for her to grab it. I didn't want to take my eyes off of the thing, for fear it would start climbing roofs again. "Don't put your finger on the trigger unless you have to."

"What? You want _me_ to shoot it?" She asked in surprise, as she took the gun.

"No, I don't want to waste ammo." It continued to scrabble back and forth in the front yard, wary after what happened to his buddy. "Give me the axe."

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Yeah."

I pulled the door open with a bang, pissed off. As I reached the lawn, the thing stopped, and screeched at me again. It was three feet tall, hunchbacked, armored, and ugly. It's head looked like someone mashed up a banana, and stuck a row of razor-sharp teeth in it.

I stepped toward it, wondering what it's move was going to be. I was a little worried, but my anger at being chased around by the ugly thing overrode those thoughts.

It suddenly started to skip towards me, using it's hands almost like an ape would. I had to step back as it took a swipe at me, but as it brought it's other arm up to take another shot, I kicked it in the stomach, causing it to lose it's balance. Taking the opportunity, I put my boot on it's chest, and brought the blade down, almost splitting it's head completely in two.

I pulled the axe back slowly, so I wouldn't splatter myself with blood as well. Crouching down, I studied my kill and noticed how far off the ground the thing sat with the armor on it's back. The front was a simple chest plate, but the back was solid. It was no wonder the things were hunched, and walked the way they did, it had to weigh thirty pounds.

I heard footsteps behind me and figured Cordelia had finished cleaning herself off as best she could. Turning, I gave her a smile. "You did good Cor, most cheerleaders would have been screaming their heads off."

"What did you expect? I _am_ the captain." She replied with a cocky grin.

I stood up and offered her my arm. "Okay Cordy the Monster Killer, let's go eat."

"You better believe it." She took my arm and we were off.

**=H=H=**

We sat with our backs to the wall of a nearby building, finishing our lunch. It was still sinking in that we weren't alone in this city. I was examining her right arm where the thing she'd killed had scratched her. She had a smile of contentment on her face, even as I poked at her.

"See how you like it?" I had to ask.

Cordelia giggled. "I actually said that to a vampire too, after I bit him in the library. I thought it was appropriate."

"You _bit_ a vampire?" I snorted at this.

"Well, he wouldn't let me go, and he messed up my hair."

"Ah, now I understand. That is an offense punishable by death in the Kingdom of C."

"You're damn right it is." She smacked my arm. "I wasn't about to let some loser vampire trying to hide his bald spot with a trucker cap get away with groping me."

We sat there laughing, it felt good to do it together for a change. Usually it was at the expense of one of us.

"Oh! I just remembered." Cordelia exclaimed, breaking the mirth as she jumped to her feet. "I got us bathing suits, we can take a bath in that pond now."

"You know that water is going to be freezing, right?"

"Yes doofus, but I'd rather be cold then dirty." She grabbed me by the wrist with both hands, and pulled me to my feet with a grunt. "Besides, we have a fireplace."

"We don't have any wood cut." I sighed. "I hadn't planned on dragging a door full of clothes and fighting hopping demons today."

She gave me a shove, as we walked back towards the door. "Don't worry, I know you can get it done because you are _so_ manly."

I groaned. "A little heavy on the sarcasm there Queen C."

"Suck it up loser." She retorted, as she looped the rope back over my head and under my arm and gave me a pat on the head. "The sooner we get back, the sooner we can get clean. So move your butt."

We plodded down the street, wary now that we knew we weren't alone anymore. I turned to Cordy as I heard her snicker, a big smile on her face.

"What now?"

"That thing, when it was on the roof." She let out another snicker. "It sounded just like Harmony."

**=H=H=**

**END**


	5. Be Careful What You Wish For

**Headhunters**

**zTiamaTz**

**=H=H=**

**BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR**

**=H=H=**

I woke up with a groan. We had been here a week and a half, and I still expected to see Kristy, this was truly hell. I got dressed into some of the clothes Cordy had picked out, and tried to make sure they matched.

Taking the pistol from my bedside table, I stuck it into the shoulder holster I'd found with the fatigues. After what happened earlier in the week with those things, I wasn't going anywhere without it.

Looking out the window, I guessed it was mid-morning. I headed down the hallway to Cordy's room, and put my ear to the door. I could hear her snoring lightly and moved on. As I walked down the stairs, I remembered how fun, and life threatening it had been to mess with her about that.

I checked the windows to see if any had been tampered with or pried during the night, I had nailed them shut earlier in the week for additional security. I then turned my attention to the fireplace, and tossed in a few more pieces of wood, using my lighter to get it going again.

Making this daily check was something I did to keep my head straight. As long as I was doing something, I didn't have to worry about how deep in the shit we were. I went over to our food and water stash, hoping I would find something decent for both of us to eat.

As much fun as it had been to piss Cordelia off about the lima bean thing our first night, it became obvious by our third night, that I had to put my foot down. I asked her what she would do if she had to run away from one of those things, or get to a portal that could get us home, and she didn't have the energy to do it.

After that, she'd make gagging noises while she ate something she didn't like, and always made sure to let me know how annoyed she was with me. At this point though, I could live with that.

I didn't want to start the day off with a fight though. I knew she'd eat fruit, but that wasn't something I could count on finding on a regular basis. I grabbed a can and hoped for the best. Dog food.

It definitely did not look as edible as the last few cans I had. A quick poke with the knife and I realized it was nothing but a crusty block of meat matter. I tossed the whole thing into a crate we had decided to use for trash, as the tins and bottles started to pile up.

I shook my head and went on to the next can and found green beans. _Wonderful_. But they _were_ edible, so I put them aside to see if I could find something Cor would actually eat.

As I grabbed another can, I heard someone walking around and a door open upstairs. I figured I'd wait and see if she was more open-minded about green beans, then she had been for the lima variety. I thought it was a better idea then to keep opening our limited number of cans, and hoping for the best.

I looked up as she reached the bottom of the stairs in a tight, gray sweater and black pants. I thought she looked damn good in them too. "Hey Queen C, looking good!" I called out to her as she walked over to the table.

"Quiet peasant. You're here to serve me breakfast, not ogle my body."

Her snark was still present, but the venom rarely showed. A fact I was _very_ thankful for these days.

"Watch your tongue woman," I told her with a smile. "I'm not one of your lowly Cordettes."

"That's right, you're _much_ lower." She retorted as she sat down across from me. "What's on the menu today dweeb?"

"Well, we have green beans," I showed her the open can, I could tell she wasn't exactly pleased with her first choice. "Or, we have the mystery can." I rolled the unopened can over to her. She shook it next to her ear, trying to figure out what was inside.

"So what's it going to be?"

"Open the second can and then I'll decide."

"Uh uh. No way Cor, not today." I shook my head repeatedly to cement my position.

"We've been doing that for a week. Why do we have to do your stupid mystery can all of a sudden?"

"Because every time we eat, you pick the can with the better stuff, and I get the leftovers."

"That's because you'll eat anything loser." She replied with a frown.

"You know you'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that."

"Jerk." She punctuated her sentence by throwing the mystery can at my head.

I barely ducked in time, as it flew over me, and landed in our unusable sink. "Not nice Cor."

**=H=H=**

After some arguing, we discovered the mystery can was actually clam chowder. We had finished breakfast, and went down to the small pond we had found. We wore bathing suits at Cordy's insistence, but she still found ways to tease me. The fact that the water was freezing cold made me have to avert my eyes quite a bit.

As we jogged back to the house to get out of the cold, we discussed what we had found out from the half-burned files I had saved. We believed we were in a country called Sera. We knew we were in a city called Oltura, which the local newspapers we had found lying around confirmed.

We had a bunch of information, but the problem was that there were too many holes in it to get a complete picture. Even from the files I had recovered, major sections were still missing from them. I just wanted to get more information, before we tried to move outside the city in what could be a worse situation.

What we had found was disturbing to say the least. The most recent newspaper we could find was dated 6 A.E., we had no idea what A.E. stood for though. Apparently, some kind of war had started about six years previous and Oltura was one of the few cities to make it through more or less intact. Most of the people that could be evacuated seemed to have been sent to a city called Jacinto.

The people in Oltura hadn't been given the option because the 'COG' thought it was a safe to stay. The documents from the office showed that it was one of several command centers where soldiers were stationed to help protect the city. From what we could tell, things came to a head when another city called Landown, was invaded by something called the Locust.

The last edition of the paper we could find showed people in Oltura were afraid that they would be next. They were divided on whether they should fight or run.

Looking at the destruction around us, I couldn't tell which option they had taken.

There were things we didn't agree on though. One major point was The Coalition of Ordered Governments, or the COG. When Cordelia thought of government soldiers fighting a war, she pictured something like those Marine commercials with the heroic looking guy in the perfect uniform.

I wasn't so sure if that was the case though. I would have been happy to see a bunch of Marines, heck, I'd even considered joining since I knew I wasn't going to be able to afford college. But I wasn't too sure about these 'Gears' as they were called.

The COG, from everything I had read in the paper, and the documents gave me the impression of a communist government like Russia used to be. Just because I was from California, didn't automatically make me want to jump on the commie bandwagon.

The other big thing was the 'Locust'. I didn't know what to make of the name. Was it the name of the opposing army, or was it just a denigrating nickname? I remembered Uncle Rory talking about his Marine days in Vietnam, he'd referred to the bad guys over there as 'slopes' and other names like that.

What had me worried though was that Locust was just their name for demons. Cordelia seemed convinced that the things we fought were the Locust, but I didn't think so. We had killed them with a knife and an axe. A couple of guys with guns, would be able to take care of ten times that many in a few minutes.

The way the sky looked, how it was never actually, bright and the city seemed so cold and dead had me wondering if maybe a Hellmouth had opened. There was something bigger going on here, I just didn't know what it was.

**=H=H=**

Cordy and I strode down the streets, on the lookout for the Gear symbol, and wary of another run-in with those hopping things. After going back to the house to warm up by the fire, we decided to go exploring again. We wanted to see if we could find another intact command center to get more info, and supplies.

I had my doubts about it though, seeing as how all but the one I had found half-burned so far, were obliterated. They had a word for it when I had watched Desert Storm on the news, but I couldn't think of what it was.

"Do you think we'll ever get home?" She asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

I had been dreading this question. I knew Cordelia was putting up a strong front to hide the fact she was just as scared as I was. Her pride wouldn't let her show that weakness any more then mine would. Right now I just hoped the answer I gave, wouldn't make things worse then they already were.

"I'm sure Giles is doing everything he can to get us home Cor." It was getting harder to give her the same line, when I was finding it just as hard to believe it myself anymore. "If he can't find the answer, he can always call that Watchers Council he works-"

She stopped, and turned to me. "Just give me a straight answer Xander, yes or no?"

"Honestly, I don't know." I sighed. That fast, she had me on the defensive. "I told you before that there was a possibility we'd be here for awhile. At the time, I really didn't think so. Now, I'm not so sure."

She raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you losers have a plan before we got dragged into the hellhole?"

"Hellmouth." I corrected without thinking.

"Whatever! I really don't care. Don't you think it would have been a good idea to have some way to take care of the monster coming out from the floor?"

"We were expecting Buffy to fight a vampire, nobody saw _that_ coming."

"So Giles' grand-plan ended up being hold on to the freakin' axe!"

"Pretty much. Everything happened so fast we didn't have time to come up with something better." A nasty thought came to mind. "Hell, I almost wasn't there to help you guys in the library."

"What are you talking about?"

"Buffy wanted Angel and me to stay at the bottom of the steps to keep the vampires away from her and the Master."

"Where was she anyway?" She started to pace. "God! I don't know why I bothered to help you losers!"

"Settle down Cor, if you hadn't stopped to help Willow and Miss Calender, they'd have both been dead. As much as it pains me to say this, it means you actually _are_ a human being."

She turned to retort, but further conversation was cut off by a sound from the distance. I knew that sound, and I was actually surprised it took this long for something to show up.

**=H=H=**

"What's that sound?"

I grabbed the pistol from it's holster, before heading to a low wall. I waved for Cordelia to come over with me.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a note of panic in her voice as she sat, back against the wall.

"We're staying out of view until we know whats going on. Get your axe ready just in case." I looked over the wall and saw three black objects in the air coming in our direction.

Cordelia stood back up, the axe in her hands. "What is going on Xander?" She demanded.

"Helicopters, three of them." I could see them clearly now.

"That's great! We're saved, we can go home now!" Her panic had instantly turned into jubilation.

"Hold on a sec, we don't even know if they're friendly. I don't even think we're in the same _dimension_, so even if they are friendly I doubt they could help us get home anyway." There, I had said it. Now all I could do is hope she wouldn't flip out.

"Well then what are we supposed to do genius, ignore them?" She smacked me, and then turned to watch them as they drew closer.

"Of course not, but like I said before, we don't know if they're the good guys."

Cordelia started waving her hands back and forth trying to get their attention.

"Cor stop." She ignored me. I looked up, and saw the copters were less then six hundred yards away. "Cordelia stop now!" They were closing fast, more then close enough to see us. I grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her back down behind the wall.

"No! Xander, you let me go _this instant_!" She screamed, trying desperately to pull herself free from my grip.

We were on the ground in a tangle, when the copters flew overhead, and kept going towards the other side of the city. They hadn't even slowed down, so I was guessing they either hadn't seen us, or didn't care.

I finally let her go, and stood up, trying to see where they were going to land, but I was interrupted by fists banging on my back.

"You bastard! How could you?" She screamed as I turned around. She continued to pummel me in the chest. "We could have been rescued, instead, you had to go and ruin everything!"

I grabbed her wrists so she'd stop hitting me. "Goddammit Cor, what if they were black hats, huh? If they had landed here and weren't friendly, what would we have done then?"

"You don't know that, what if they were those Coalition guys?"

"You're right, I don't. But we don't know for sure if the Coalition _are_ the good guys. I'm just trying to keep you safe, that's all." I let go of her arms, and stepped back, hoping she'd see reason.

"Keep me safe? Or is it keep me away from other people so I can be your little house woman?"

"That's not fair Cor." I was getting angry, we had moved _way_ past simple name calling now.

"What, you thought you'd be my hero? My protector? That I'd put out to show how grateful I am?" She accused, venom dripping with every word. "I see how-"

"Cordelia, shut the fuck up!"

She stopped mid-sentence, mouth wide open in shock. Right now I didn't care.

"Helicopters that size can carry at least eight guys each, if not more. Everything we have is inside the house. If we had to run, we'd have to leave it all behind, is that what you want?" I asked her calmly, now that I didn't have to yell over her to be heard.

"Take a good look at yourself and _think_. You are one the hottest women I have ever met in my life. Do you really want to take a chance, and trust in twenty four guys we don't know, that they're going to be perfect gentlemen? I don't like those odds one bit."

She stared at me, tears streaming down her face. Her lower lip was quivering.

"I would die before I'd let some bastard touch you Cor, but all we have is a pistol, and your axe. I agree we should check these people out, but it should be on _our_ terms."

"What are our terms?" She asked in a whisper.

"I want to see where they land, and go there tomorrow, check them out from a distance. If they seem friendly, I'll go over and introduce myself. If they really _are_ friendly, I'll come get you."

"What if they aren't friendly?"

Before I could reply, there was a huge explosion. I looked in the direction the helicopters had gone, and saw two blazing shapes hurtling towards the ground. The third looked like it was smoking, and seemed to be losing altitude fast. I lost sight of it amongst the buildings in the distance soon after.

I looked over at Cordelia and shook my head. "I guess it doesn't matter now." I said grimly.

She suddenly threw her arms around me and started to sob against my chest. I stood there holding her, and told her that everything was going to be alright. I just hoped I wasn't lying to her...

**=H=H=**

**END**


	6. Pistolero

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**PISTOLERO**

**=H=H=**

Cordelia and I sat in our small kitchen, discussing our current situation. We still weren't sure what to do, and we both felt like shit. After the copters went down yesterday, we had gone back to the house, and finished off the bottle of whiskey I had found. What had looked like an opportunity, had quickly gone up in smoke.

I wasn't sure what was going on now though. In the middle of the night, we'd heard a gun battle going on somewhere in the city, but it had seemed to be moving away from us. Since dawn though, it had been getting steadily closer.

"What about those markers we made so we knew how to get back to the house?" She asked nervously.

"That's a good idea Cor, but I don't think so. They were simple marks, if they'd been arrows, I could see that. But these guys seem to be running, I don't think they'd have the time to notice a pattern."

"Are we going to help them?"

"Help _who_? We don't know who _they_ are. Like I said before, even if it is the COG we don't know they're the good guys."

"We have to do _something_!" She screamed, slamming her palms down on the table. "We can't just sit in this place and hope some portal is going to open!"

"We are doing something, we're going to sit here, and wait for them to pass us by."

Cordy narrowed her eyes at me. "Since when did you become a coward Harris?" Her voice was disgusted.

I looked down at the table, and rubbed my hands against my temples, as I avoiding the question. The fighting was getting closer, and my head was killing me.

I couldn't see her, but I knew she was glaring at me. I had always hated it, ever since I was a kid. That glare meant not only was she deciding how to kill your dignity, but where, and how deep she was going to bury what was left.

Most people took the airhead act she had perfected over the years at face value. I knew better. I had faced off with her enough times to know stupid people did _not_ come up with the kind of scathing remarks she made.

"I don't want you to be alone." I said simply.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Cor, if it were just me, I'd go out there in a second and help the good guys." I lifted my head up to look at her. "If I do that here, there is a _real_ chance that I won't be coming back, and then you'd be alone."

"But you've been fighting demons and stuff for six months!"

"That was Buffy doing most of the work. Besides that, they didn't carry weapons that could take down helicopters."

Suddenly there was an explosion that sounded close by. It took me by surprise, but after a few seconds I dove under the table, and then dragged Cordelia down with me. The sound of bullets flying started again right after that.

"Shit!" I turned to Cordy. "They've got to be only a couple of blocks away."

"We should see if we can help them."

"Since when are you _Super-girl_?" I asked incredulously. "Yesterday you said you didn't know why you bothered to help us."

She got up off the floor and dusted her pants off. "Like you said dweeb, we're probably going to be here for awhile. We might as well see if we can get some help while we're here."

Feeling stupid because I was still under the table, I got up, and watched as she picked up her axe. Then she stood there and waited for me.

"Fine, but we're doing things _my_ way." I saw she was about to argue, but I cut her off with a sweep of the hand. "I'm not going to let you get killed because you picked the wrong side."

As we walked out the door, I hoped there was a right one.

**=H=H=**

We left the house, and tried to figure out where we should head. The fighting seemed to be to our left, and up a couple blocks. We cut through the yard of the house across the street from ours. I kicked out a few planks from a wooden fence so we could get into the alley that ran the length of the street.

The shots were still going off, but they were becoming sporadic. I stuck my head through the fence and saw the alley was empty and climbed through. After Cordelia did the same, we moved to a dumpster near the mouth of the alley.

"Cor stop here for a sec," I flipped the safety off of the pistol. "I'm going to take a peek around the corner."

"Okay." She replied, looking as nervous as I was.

As I edged my way to the street, I wondered if she was reconsidering her plan. I was quickly broken from my thoughts though, when I heard voices heading towards us from the street.

"Hey Sarge, you wanna pick up the pace? They're right on our ass!"

"Fuck you Sanders! Keep moving!" A gruff voice yelled back.

I was about to peek around the corner when a hail of gunfire shot past the alley, causing me to flinch back. As I turned my head back around to face the street, I saw three figures take cover behind a car. Two of them looked like they were wearing the same kind of armor as the soldier I had found in the command center.

The third guy leaned over the hood of the car to return fire. He was gigantic, his body covered in armor except his head and arms. He was _at least_ three inches taller then me, and solid muscle.

"What the heck is going on?" A whispered voice asked behind me.

"Not now Cor, it looks like those COG guys are fighting with some other group, but I can't see who they are." I turned and gave her a small smile. "Just be ready to hit that hole in the fence if things go bad, I'll be right behind you."

"Grenade!"

I turned back to see the big guy grab one of the smaller one's and try to dive away as the car they had used as cover blew up.

"What's hap-"

I shushed her. "Quiet, the COG guys just got hit with a grenade."

"From who?" She hissed.

I ignored her, as I heard a mucousy growl, and heavy footsteps coming down the street. Two figures came into view, walking toward the Gears. They were both about six feet tall and as wide as the big guy. One wore a set of goggles, and carried a big rifle. The other wore a full-face helmet, and had some kind of machine gun.

They definitely _weren't_ human either. Both had this gray skin that reminded me of a lizard, and one with the goggles had a mouth full of fangs. They strolled up to the car and started messing with something I couldn't see. Probably the poor soldier that big guy hadn't been able to grab, I couldn't really tell because of the smoke. Then I heard a groan.

I looked over to the left ,and saw the big guy trying to crawl away. Goggles walked over to him and flipped him on his back, with a hard kick. He made that growling sound, and I knew he was going to kill him.

I aimed the pistol at him, my hand was shaking. It raised it's boot to stomp the big guy and I fired. The shot went wide and the thing took a step back, the gun had almost jumped out of my hand. It turned to face me and started to raise the rifle. This time, I held the pistol with both hands, I shot it five times and it fell over, hopefully dead.

"Cordy run!" I screamed, just as bullets started tearing up the far side of the alley entrance. I heard footsteps behind me, and I hoped she would get back to the house safely.

**=H=H=**

As Helmet got closer to the mouth, I was afraid Cordelia wouldn't be able to get out of the alley before he arrived. I fired off two more shots and hid behind the dumpster, hoping I could take him by surprise.

As I leaned against it, I almost fell over. The thing had wheels, which gave me a _very stupid_ idea. I grabbed a handhold, and started dragging it backwards. Just then, Helmet opened up on it, but the dumpster seemed to hold.

I fired back blindly, hoping to get lucky as I neared the hole in the fence. Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Cordy pulled her leg through. I was hoping with the dumpster in the way, Helmet hadn't seen her at all.

I was almost there when there was a sudden shove on the other end. The dumpster jammed into my right leg, twisting it, and I went down hard. I was now on my back, watching as the dumpster was shoved aside, a rifle pointed at me.

I looked around for my pistol, and saw it a few feet away. I looked back, and saw Helmet watching me. The single red eye of the helmet made a whirring sound, as it waited to see if I'd go for it. The bastard was toying with me.

As I eyed the pistol, I slowly reached my left hand over to the knife at my waist. I really had nothing to lose anyway. Helmet caught on to what I was doing and pulled the trigger. I closed my eyes, but all I heard was a click. I ripped my knife out of it's sheath, and threw, only to watch it bounce harmlessly off his chest, when it hit handle first.

Helmet looked down at his chest and then back at me. He grabbed a lever on the side of his rifle. He gave it a twist and a motor came to life. Of course, the fucking thing was a _chainsaw_ too.

I started to crab-walk backwards, as he advanced, but my leg slowed me down. Helmet was laughing nastily and taking his sweet time getting to me.

There was a sudden thunk, and his laugh died. The saw cut out, and a second later he fell forward with an axe in his back. There stood Cordelia, with a big smile on her face.

"Maybe it should have been _you_ doing the running, huh dork?"

**=H=H=**

I groaned, as Cordelia helped me get to my feet. I must have twisted my ankle worse then I thought.

"C'mon Cor, I want to see if we can help those COG guys."

As I limped past Helmet's body, I spit on him. He could have changed clips and killed me in seconds. Instead, he decided to hunt me down with a chainsaw. As far as I was concerned, these things were no better then vampires.

"What happened up there Xander?"

I quickly explained to her what happened with the Gears, and the grenade. Then how Goggles had tried to stomp the big guys head in.

As we once again neared the mouth of the alley, it was Cordelia that stuck her head out this time. Seeing that the coast was clear, we headed over to the fallen Gears.

The big guy had propped himself up against the wall. I realized though, that the two smaller guys hadn't moved an inch. As we approached, I was once again facing down the barrel of a gun.

"Who are you?" The big guy growled.

"Whoa!" I held up my hands, my pistol pointed in the air. "We're-"

"You jerk! We just saved your life. Put the gun down." Cordelia ordered.

I looked over at her in disbelief. We were so dead.

"Cor, be nice to the man with the big gun." I hissed at her.

"You're the one that killed that sniper drone."

"Do you see anyone else around here buddy?" Cordy was really on a roll.

I wondered when she had developed a death wish.

"Cor, put the axe down." I slowly bent down, and placed the gun on the ground. We wouldn't get anywhere like this, and he had already beaten me to the draw anyway.

"Fine." She gave me a look that let me know I'd be hearing about this later. The axe fell to the ground with a clank.

I looked back to the big guy. He was hispanic, with jet black hair in a crew cut. I was really hoping he'd be a peace-minded kind of person. Hell, his gun was even bigger then mine.

He lowered the gun, letting it flop to his lap. "You Stranded?" He suddenly started to cough, obviously in pain.

"Yeah, you could say that. We kinda dropped in." I stated simply.

"How the hell-"

"Look man, you're in bad shape. Why don't you let us take a look at you, and your guys, then we can talk all you want."

"Check on them first. I ain't going nowhere." Another round of wracking coughs followed.

I could see there was blood dripping down his left arm.

"Cordy, check the guy by the car." I decided to take the man closer to me. He was the one big guy had tried to yank away from the explosion.

"What's your name?" I asked as I checked on the soldier. I could see a golf ball-sized hole in the back of his armor, not good.

"Rodriguez, Bravo Company. What's _left of it_ anyway." He replied with disgust.

"I'm sorry we couldn't help sooner. I'm Xander, she's Cordelia."

I turned the soldier over as gently as I could, hoping maybe he'd still be alive. I tried to feel for a pulse on his exposed neck, but I didn't know how to do it.

"Here." Cordelia knelt next to me. "Let me check." She looked up to Rodriguez shortly after and shook her head.

"Didn't think so."

"I'm sorry." She said simply.

I crawled over to him, wanting to stay off my leg. "How do we get this armor off?"

"Turn the disc clockwise. It'll release after that."

I looked at the armor. It looked like one solid piece. The disc was just below his heart and there was a Gears symbol to the upper right. I could see damage on the front and side, but I didn't know how bad it was.

As I turned it, I heard the sound of it depressurizing, and then his armor just seemed to crack open down the middle. As I pulled the sides apart, blood spilled out onto the ground. The first thing I saw was the Gears symbol-shaped dog tag hanging from his neck. Then I noticed the nasty looking wound in his side.

"Cor, go get the medical kit we put together from the house."

I watched as she snatched up her axe, and took off at a run toward the house. It was good to see her drop the bitch act when someone needed her help.

"You ought to have her put that fire out while you're at it kid." Rodriguez said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"How do you think we got here? We've been following that trail of smoke since first light."

"Fuck!" I couldn't believe how stupid I was. "Cordelia!"

Cordelia turned around as she heard me yell.

"Put the fire out!"

She gave a quick nod, and continued back to the house.

_Shit_. I really hoped there weren't anymore Locust in the area. With the racket we were making, that smoke was the least of our problems.

**=H=H=**

"How many more of you are there?"

"It's just us, we've been here almost two weeks now."

"Bullshit." Rodriguez growled. "There's only one ground route into the city and the grubs control it. Stranded don't got no choppers."

"Does it really matter?" I replied angrily. I inspected the wound in his side, it didn't seem that big, but I wasn't sure if it was serious or not. He seemed to be more or less okay.

"You're not being straight with me man, it makes me nervous."

I pulled back, and looked at him. "We don't know how we got here. We just woke up in the middle of an abandoned city, and we're just trying to survive."

He tried to stare me down. I didn't care how big he was, I wasn't going to let him intimidate me.

"That a good enough answer for you?"

"No."

"Too bad, it's all your getting." I continued to return the stare.

He opened his mouth to retort, but I stopped him.

"Considering we just saved your ass, I suggest you cut the attitude." I knew this wasn't going to go anywhere, so I decided to change the subject. "Now what did you mean they control it?"

"Just what I said. They're massed around it, waiting for us to come rolling in." He replied in disgust.

"You guys have helicopters, that sounds pretty stupid to me."

"We're talking about enough people to fill this shit-burg. You have any idea how long it would take to bring them in by air? Plus, we need this place intact. We can't just bomb them."

"Okay, that makes sense. Why haven't they come and killed us yet?"

"Probably don't have the numbers. Between Jacinto, and in-fighting with the Lambent, one little fire wasn't worth their time."

"Wasn't?" I asked darkly.

"With us showin' up, that'll probably change things. They're gonna be hunting us _all_ down now."

"Great, do you know if there are anymore of your guys out there?"

Rodriguez sighed. "I don't know man, we all got separated. Sanders, Hall, and me were just trying to get the hell out of there. When we saw the smoke, we made a break for it."

"How far away were you from here?"

Suddenly there was a sound of running footsteps. He aimed his gun, only to see Cordelia rounding the big iron fence at the corner, her axe in one hand and a toolbox in the other.

He lowered it back down and Cordelia arrived shortly after, slightly out of breath.

"How are you doing?" She asked, as she handed me the box.

"Fuckin' hurts." He turned back to me as I tried to see what I could do to help. "I don't know how far we went, it's not like we had a map or anything."

"How were you guys supposed to clear those Locust things out of the city, without knowing the layout?" Cordelia asked, confused.

"We weren't," He sucked in a breath, as I tried to clean the wound. "We were just doing a flyover to get an idea of what we'd be up against in the Thaw."

"How long is _that_ going to be?" She asked incredulously.

"Sorry chica, there ain't gonna be anyone coming for at least three months. After we sank Jacinto, the COG was looking for places to settle some of the survivors, and Oltura's one of 'em."

He gave a loud groan from me poking him, but continued. "The Frost season gets real nasty in this area, they ain't even gonna _try_ to move people in here until Thaw."

We paused as we heard gunfire erupt somewhere in the city. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

**=H=H=**

"What about a rescue?" I asked hopefully. After trying to stop the bleeding for several minutes, I was getting worried.

"What rescue?" He said with a snort. "Once that chopper hit the ground, it became a _one-way_ trip."

We both stared at him, shocked. Three choppers had gone down with who knows how many men, and these COG people wouldn't even send someone to search for survivors?

Rodriguez must have realized what we were thinking. "Resources are scarce man. Losing Ilima City and Jacinto made things a lot worse."

"But what about you guys?"

"What? You think after they lost three King-" He paused and shook his head.

"Are you okay?" Cordelia asked, concerned.

"Yeah chica. Just a little sick, head feels funny. Fucking grubs got us good."

She grabbed Rodriguez's wrist and checked his pulse. "Your pulse is down." She did not look happy.

He coughed once again. As he pulled his hand away, I noticed blood on his hand.

"This bleeding isn't stopping." I stated. I looked at his armor and saw something had punched through it where Rodriguez's wound was.

"Shit man. Nothin' goes right in this city."

"Can't you just sew it up?" Cordy suggested.

The sound of the ongoing gunfire in the distance gave me an idea. "Are any of your people medics?"

"Not anymore. She was on 3-7, fucking mortar bomblets hit it."

"_Great_, there's a bullet, or something else in you, and I don't know what to do."

"Get it out."

"You really want me to do that?" I asked him. I looked down at his side, the blood just kept coming.

"I got nothing to lose kid."

I didn't know if I could do it, the idea scared the shit out of me.

Cordelia pulled out her knife. "Will this do?" She asked hesitantly.

I sighed. "It's gonna to have to Cor." I told her, as I eased Rodriguez onto his right side. I knew she had cleaned the blade, but I was a bit wary of using it after she had stabbed that hopping thing.

Cordelia guided his head gently down to her lap. "Don't worry, he can do this." She told him as she took his hand.

I took the knife and looked down at him. "Are you ready?"

"Just do it kid." He said weakly.

I moved the knife over to the wound. My hand was shaking, I _so_ did not want to do this. As I placed the point near the edge of the cut I hesitated.

"_Do it_." Rodriguez growled.

His voice startled me, I looked over to him. "Do you _mind_? I'm trying to do freakin' surgery here!"

"Xander, please." Cordy gave me a pleading look.

I brought the knife back down and cut. Watching the blood spill even more freaked me out, but I didn't stop. After widening it, I took a deep breath and stuck my fingers inside.

He groaned, I couldn't imagine how much this had to hurt.

For several minutes I tried to feel around for whatever the thing was as gently as possible. "I feel something." I said excitedly, and tried to get a better hold on whatever it was.

Rodriguez started to shift to his stomach.

"You've got to hold still man, I can't get a hold of this if you keep moving." I pulled him back toward me, and tried to get my grip again.

"Xander, he's dead." Cordelia said softly.

**=H=H=**

I stared down at the bloody thing in my hand. Rodriguez had died because of a piece of car bumper, of all the _stupid_ things. I looked to Cordelia, she was crying as she cradled his head in her lap, she still hadn't let go of his hand.

I had a ton of unanswered questions. I hadn't rushed them, figuring we'd have plenty of time to talk. We still didn't know if the Locust were demons or something else.

Now, Rodriguez and his men were dead, we were alone again, and his blood was on my hands. Everything had gone to hell, just like it always seemed to these days.

"What are we going to do now Xander?"

"We're going to bury them. Do me a favor, and get the door we used to move the clothes."

Cordy left without an argument. It still surprised me, which made me feel even worse. She had been there for him as much as I had, if not more.

I looked down at the ground where Rodriguez's blood had pooled around us as I had tried to help him. I saw the gigantic revolver he had pointed at us earlier, sitting there in the middle of it.

I reached out and picked it up, it was a dull silver with a worn hand grip, and it had obviously seen a lot of use. I realized we would need this and all the other guns if we were going to survive another three months.

After killing time, just spinning the cylinder, I heard a scraping sound coming down the street. Looking up, I saw Cordelia come jogging around the corner, pulling the door behind her.

She came to a stop and took the loop off from around her. "That thing is freaking heavy."

"That was the easy part Cor." I said, as I gingerly got to my feet. With my bum ankle, I knew this was going to be a long day.

"Where do we start?" She asked sullenly.

**=H=H=**

After several hours, and a lot of pain, we had finally managed to get their bodies to the site, and gotten the graves dug. We had decided to use the yard across the street from our house.

I wanted it close by, for when the COG came, that way, they could retrieve the bodies easily. The graves weren't as deep as I would have liked, only about three feet, but that was all we could really manage.

Unhappily, I had taken all the ammunition they had carried, and then we were ready. With Cordelia at his legs, I went to pick up Rodriguez to place him in his grave.

That's when I noticed the thing on his ear. I picked it up, and took a closer look. I realized it had to be some kind of communicator. I'd seen it earlier, but it had never come up.

She came over and knelt down next to me. "What is it?"

"I think it's some kind of comm device." I showed it to her, it had a hook to go behind the ear, a piece that sat over the canal and extended out a few inches.

"Do you think it still works?" She asked hopefully, taking it from my hand.

She held it up to her ear, but after a series of 'hellos' with no reply, she looked disappointed.

I went over to Hall's body, and carefully removed his helmet. He had a similar one attached to his ear as well. "Cor, why don't you take a walk down the street, and we'll see if these work."

As she jogged down the street, I removed the ear piece and put it to my ear. I felt like crap for what amounted to looting their bodies, but it wasn't like we really had a choice.

**:**_Hello._**:** Cordy's voice came.

I looked up and realized she was down the street. **:**_Yeah, I can hear you._**:** I had to pull the ear piece away from her shout.

**:**_Come on back Cor, let's get this finished up._**:** As I went to put Hall's helmet back on, I noticed a bit of chain sticking out from his armor, it was his dog tag. I pulled it loose and put it aside with Rodriguez's.

**=H=H=**

We quickly proceeded burying the three fallen soldiers. We had stopped just long enough to get Sanders' com, and dog tag as well. We made simple crosses from the fence planks I had kicked in earlier that day.

After that, we painted their names, and then hung their dog tags from the crosses. We gave a thank you to the three men, and then took a much needed break.

Cordelia sat a few feet away from me, her knees pulled to her chest and her head down. I could hear her softly crying. I hopped over, and sat down beside her. "You okay Cor?"

She didn't look up. "I never saw someone die before." She whispered.

Hesitantly, I put my arm around her. She leaned into me, and we just sat there. I wanted to say something, but everything I came up with in my head just didn't sound right.

After a few minutes, she picked her head up and wiped her eyes. She looked over to me, a small smile on her face. "Thanks dork."

"You're welcome." I pulled her tight to me. "Before we go in tonight, I want to get all of those weapons we left back there.

"Okay." She said, and got to her feet. She then grabbed my hands and helped me up as well.

Cordelia went into the house to grab the backpacks, while I headed back to the hole in the fence.

After making my way through, I stopped over the body of Helmet. He had fallen on top of his machine gun, so I had to shove his body over to get to it. After stripping him of anything that looked useful, I eyed the gun.

I pried it from his stiffening grip, and took a good look at the thing that had almost killed me several times today. It looked almost like a normal gun, except it was a little more high tech. The razor sharp teeth, which stuck out further then the barrel, looked like nothing I'd ever seen.

I grabbed the lever on the side, and couldn't help myself, I turned it. Hearing the sound of the motor humming, I just had to try it out. Looking down at the piece of shit that had killed the three soldiers, I knew _exactly_ where to start.

**=H=H=**

Cordelia looked up, as I limped out of the alley. She had everything organized, and was carefully placing things into the two backpacks.

"What do you want to do with those guys?" She pointed at Goggles' body.

In response, I tossed something at her feet. It clanked as it hit the ground before slowly rolling to a stop.

"_Ew_, is that what I think it is?" She stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"It's not like these bastards deserve a burial or anything."

"O-kay. What are you going to do with them then?"

"See that fence over there?" I pointed toward at the fence on the corner of our street. It was one of those old iron ones, with spikes sticking up.

"You're joking, right?"

"Nope." I said with a smile, before turning my attentions to Goggles.

**=H=H=**

**END**


	7. Escort Service

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**ESCORT SERVICE**

**=H=H=**

"It's really not that difficult Cor." I said from the chair I was sitting in, my right leg propped up.

When we woke up, I had suggested to Cordy that we should black out, and board up the windows for extra security. Cordelia then added that we should stuff blankets between the boards and glass for insulation. It was a great idea, she was really surprising me lately.

I had already done several of the downstairs windows, but I wanted to give my ankle a rest. My hope was the more I stayed off of it, the faster it would heal.

"Fine, but if I smash my thumb, you are _so_ going to regret it."

"This is a hammer." I held it up for her, and waved towards it with my other hand like I was in an infomercial. "Those..." I pointed towards the can on the windowsill. "...are nails."

"You take this..." I bent down to pick up a board. As I brought myself back up, I found a very annoyed Cordelia. The knife she was now brandishing in a threatening manner, let me know my explanation had been taken with mixed results.

"Is that really necessary Cor?"

"It is if you keep treating me like an idiot buster." She retorted, one hand on her hip, the other continuing to point the knife at me.

I snorted, thinking how she'd come a long way. From verbal assaults, to threatened physical ones.

"I'm glad you think this is so funny. Remember, you can't run away from me now loser."

"Okay, okay." I held the hammer up, now in self-defense. "Just do it like I did, if you have any questions, feel free to ask."

As she went to work, I wondered what else we could do to make this place more defensible. I'd been running ideas through my head since yesterday, but I decided to slow down when I started thinking a moat was a valid option.

My other big concern was supplies. Food, water, and medical stuff were must haves. Now that I knew we'd have a long winter to look forward to, we really needed to go out scavenging again. But with the Locust now on the hunt for us, things could get complicated.

I looked to where Cordy was viciously pounding a nail into a board. "How's it going?"

"We need more blankets." She replied, not bothering to look back.

I sighed. At least _they_ were easy to get.

**=H=H=**

"God I feel stupid."

"Oh shut up you big baby." Cordy looked back at me with distaste in her eyes. "I'm the one doing all the work."

I was sitting on top of Cordelia's wagon as she dragged me along down the street. I had the machine gun in my hands in case any more of those Locust showed up. I knew it was a bad idea, but I figured it would be better to do it now before they got too organized.

Cordelia had made it clear she didn't want to go out like this, that we'd be too vulnerable if something happened, and I wasn't able to get away. It made sense, but I was more worried about what would happen if we were trapped inside the house with no supplies.

There was one bright side to this trip though. I had the perfect excuse to stare at Cordy's perfect ass. I'd been doing it since we had left our house.

"Enjoying the view?"

"Yeah." I responded automatically. I was broken from my thoughts by the very sudden stop of the wagon.

"Really?" She asked, as she turned to face me.

I looked up at her and came to the realization that I had messed up, big time.

"Um, I-"

"I have to drag you around this city and dodge a bunch of _freaks_ that want to kill us! And you," She yanked the wagon toward her, and glared down at me. "Just ride along staring at my ass?"

"Uh, sorry?" I didn't know what else to say.

"You're going to be you jerk."

**=H=H=**

As I sat nursing my bruised ego, Cordy came to a stop in an area about nine blocks away, that we hadn't really explored before. "We haven't been here before perv, you want to check out some of the buildings?"

I saw houses, and what could be a few small stores. "Looks good to me Cor."

She sat down next to me on the curb. "We definitely need more medical stuff." She dipped her head down.

"It's okay," I put my hand on her arm. "We tried, and he didn't die alone. That's got to count for something, right?"

"I guess." She whispered.

I hated seeing Cordy like this. I pulled the pistol out, and handed it to her. "I want to show you how to work this, okay? Until I'm back on my feet, you'll be going into these places by yourself."

She nodded, I could tell she was nervous about it, but ready.

I showed her where the safety was and how to hold it properly. While Cordelia wasn't a small person like Buffy, the gun looked even bigger, with her slender fingers wrapped around it.

"Just be careful if you have to shoot. Have a solid, two-hand grip, and for the love of God keep it away from your face."

"I know which way to point it you jerk, I'm not stupid." She replied indignantly.

"Cor, I'm not saying you are, but I had a hard time controlling this thing. No offense, but I'm stronger then you. When it's fired, it could jump back and hit you right in the face if you're not careful."

Cordy seemed to have it down pretty quickly. She wheeled me up to the door of the closest house, and left me outside to guard the entrance. I wasn't really expecting her to find anything dangerous in an abandoned building, but I figured it would make her feel safer.

As I scanned the area, keeping an eye out for any Locust, I couldn't help but wish Rodriguez and the other soldiers were here. We could have definitely used their help and experience. Since most of my knowledge of guns came from movies, I was sure there was a ton I didn't know.

I heard Cordelia's footsteps move up to the second floor. I hoped she'd be successful at finding the stuff we needed, because the street was empty and I was bored.

I pressed the button on the comm. **:**_Can you hear me Cor?_**:**

**:**_There a problem dweeb?_**:**

**:**_No, just bored._**:**

**:**_Then shut up, I'm the one doing all the work here._**:** She replied angrily.

**:**_Is this about me staring at your ass?_**:**

I didn't hear anything back, so after ten minutes, I assumed she was ignoring me.

**:**_Look up._**:** She said suddenly.

I did, and something smacked me in the forehead. I looked around on the ground for what hit me, and found a bright orange frisbee. She had written something on it.

**[_Don't even TALK about my ass you loser._]**

**=H=H=**

We were on our third house, when I heard the scraping sound. Since I was daydreaming, I didn't pay it much mind at first. Then, it suddenly hit me that there just shouldn't _be_ any sound like that. It seemed like it was coming from the left, but I couldn't place where exactly.

**:**_Cordy, are you on the second floor yet?_**:**

**:**_Yes, now now what do you want?_**:** She asked, annoyed at another interruption.

**:**_Look out a window facing the street to the left, tell me if you see anything._**:** It was getting closer, and I was starting to feel real vulnerable.

After about thirty seconds, I got my answer.

**:**_Xander, get your butt in the house right now!_**:** Cordy's voice sounded panicked.

Oh shit. **:**_What is it?_**:**

She didn't answer.

I got up on my left leg, using the door frame for support. Cordelia was suddenly behind me, pulling me into the house. After shoving me aside, she grabbed the wagon, and drug it in. Then, she quickly shut the door and got down on the floor next to me.

"I think we got inside just in time." She whispered to me.

"What the hell did you see?" I asked.

Cordelia smacked me on the arm and put a finger to her lips. "There's six of them coming around the corner."

That shut me up real fast, there was _no way_ we could take that many. These weren't vamps, they could come into any place they wanted to. With those grenades, they didn't even have to use a door.

We waited for what seemed like forever, but they finally passed by us. We peeked out the window at their backs, and I saw the source of the sound. It towered over the others by at least two feet. It was carrying some kind of shield and dragging a ball and chain down the street.

I looked over to Cordy. "It's a good thing they aren't very bright. If it weren't for the moron dragging that mace, I wouldn't have heard them coming until it was too late."

"We need to come up with a better plan." Cordelia replied with a frown.

**=H=H=**

After waiting half an hour before leaving the house, we decided to go straight home. Every time we came to a cross street, Cordelia would leave the wagon, and look both ways to see if there were any more patrols.

We were about half-way home, and only had to avoid one so far. While I couldn't believe our luck, Cordy was definitely looking tired.

"Wanna take a break?"

"Yeah," She said as she maneuvered the wagon to the curb. "This is the _last_ time I haul your ass anywhere dork."

We sat there, and talked for a few minutes while she caught her breath. We were almost ready to get going again when we heard it.

"**_Hun-ger._**" A voice growled from somewhere ahead of her.

I looked around Cordelia, and saw an eight foot tall Locust lumbering toward us from the end of the street. His chest and shoulders were armored, sort of like a Gear, only black. The weird thing was, it looked like he was wearing an apron. He carried a meat cleaver, and seemed to be dragging something behind him.

She turned to see what I was looking at. "What-"

"Cordy get out of the way!" I shoved her aside with my left hand, and raised the rifle with my right. As soon as she was clear, I aimed and fired into the thing.

The rounds stitched across his chest, but my aim went wild as the kick from the rifle made the wagon roll backwards. I could hear it snorting and wheezing as it continued toward us.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Not now Cor, hold the wagon steady for me."

As she scrambled behind me, I watched as the thing moved closer. I could now see what it was dragging, another Gear, still in his armor.

I felt Cordelia put her weight against the back of the wagon, and I fired again. After multiple shots into his torso, he finally fell down face-first.

"Let's see if we can get him loose." Cordy suggested.

I pushed myself toward the thing with my left foot, while she covered me with her pistol. As I leaned down to examine the Gear, I heard a now familiar sound.

"**_Hun-ger._**"

I looked in the direction the first thing had come from, there was his twin brother rounding the corner. There was a high wall there, so I wondered how many _more_ there were, as I raised the rifle to fire. Before I had the chance, Cordelia caught my attention.

"You know what? Screw this!" She aimed the pistol straight at the thing and fired. She managed to shoot it in the thigh, but the gun bucked in her hands. She looked over to me with concern.

"Just take your time Cordy, I've got you covered."

She nodded, and proceeded to empty the clip into the thing. She'd had to adjust her aim after every shot, but the Locust died all the same.

"Nice shooting girl." I was really happy to see her do that.

Cordelia walked back to me, a smile of satisfaction on her face. "How do I reload this thing?"

I quickly showed her the release, before pocketing the empty clip and grabbing another. "C'mon Cor, we've got to get this guy loose, and off the street."

As I turned him over, I was sickened to find a meat hook had been jammed under the helmet and into the poor guy's chin. It took all my strength, just to pull the thing back out. "_Bastards_."

I got off the wagon, and with Cordelia's help, managed to wrestle his body onto it. She dragged it toward the closest house, while I limped after her.

"The door's locked, do you think you can kick it in?" She asked as she turned back to me.

I walked up to her and traded her the rifle for her pistol. "Go around back and see if it's unlocked, if not use the saw." I quickly showed her how to start it, and she took off.

I kept a close eye out for anything else, just waiting for another call of 'hunger', or worse. I didn't have to wait long though, the saw sounded, and shortly after Cordelia unlocked the front door for me.

**=H=H=**

We worked together, and brought the Gear and the wagon into the house without too much trouble. As we sat down on the couch, I couldn't take my eyes off of the soldier on the floor.

"Well, this answers the question on where all the bodies went." I said angrily.

"What do you think they're doing with them?"

"Between the cleaver and the apron? It looks like they were going to make this guy dinner."

"I've been looking at that armor, I don't think that's a guy Xander."

"Huh?"

"Look at the armor on the chest, I don't think Gears have man-boobs."

I took another look and realized she was right. The blood-stained chest piece definitely showed the outline of breasts. I moved over to the head of the soldier and slowly removed the helmet.

There was dried blood covering her neck. As the helmet came off, I could see her jaw, ruined from the force of the hook. Red hair started to spill from the bottom, and her pale skin looked even lighter against the blood. Finally, I stared into her green eyes, frozen wide with shock.

It actually made me sick to see her, she reminded me so much of Willow. I worked my fingers under the back of her armor until I was able to get her tag. I carefully pulled it out and read the engravings around both sides of the Gear symbol.

**[Cpl. Miranda S. Murphy - Bravo Company - AB]**  
**[_Coalition of Ordered Governments_]**

With my hand shaking in anger, I closed her eyes. I hated these things more then any vampire now. "Mother-fucker."

"Are you okay Xander?"

I got to my feet, shaking with anger. "They stuck that hook in her while she was still alive Cor."

"What?"

"They drug her down the street like a fucking animal!" I grabbed the end table next to the couch and threw it across the room, it exploded into pieces against the wall. The half-broken lamp on the floor was kicked in the opposite direction.

"Xander calm down! What if they hear you!"

I whirled on her. "The first one in, gets the saw up their ass." I growled.

Cordelia walked over to me. "You're being stupid! And _that_," She pointed at the body on the floor. "Isn't Willow."

"I know that, but we could have helped her. We're only a few blocks from the house."

"They're soldiers, we aren't. They have a better shot of surviving then we do."

"Tell that to Rodriguez." I pulled away as she tried to take my arm.

"Xander, sit down." She placed her hand against my chest, but I wouldn't budge. "Sit down, please." She looked up at me. _Please_."

I let her push me back, until suddenly I was sitting on the couch.

She sighed. "I know that I'm not the easiest person to get along with, I know that I can be a bitch. But I rely on you Xander, I can't do this stuff alone."

"I don't think-"

"No, I'm talking right now and you are _going_ to listen." She crossed her arms across her chest. "The fact that we're out here when you're limping like that, makes it pretty clear you aren't thinking things through."

"Cor-"

"Stop interrupting." Cordelia glared at me. "We are going back to the house and we _aren't_ leaving until you can walk on that leg. While we're there, we can plan what we're going to do next."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with how I did things this morning." I replied.

Before I could react, she slapped me across the face.

"You bastard." She hissed as she pulled back. "I appreciate everything you've done for me. I felt how heavy that door was yesterday when there was nothing on it. You hauled that thing, loaded with clothes all the way home just because I asked you to."

I finally looked up at her, tears were starting to come down her face.

"You're all I have. _Please_, can't we just take some time off and rest? You were almost killed yesterday, today, we almost got caught a couple of times. We _can't_ keep this up." She plead.

"I'm not going to hide in the house until spring Cor."

She sat down next to me, and took my hand. "I'm not saying we should, but I want you to be one hundred percent."

"I just think we could be doing more, there could be others out there nearby." I argued.

"You can't _save_ everyone Xander."

**=H=H=**

We waited two hours to make sure we hadn't attracted any more attention. While we did, I rifled through the house, looking for anything of interest. Several things had caught my eye, and I'd ended up whittling to pass the rest of the time.

Cordelia locked the door as we left. We'd decided to leave Miranda's body there, until I was able to walk properly.

"What are you doing with that stuff?"

"Payback Cor." I told her as I limped toward the nearest Locust.

"I thought we agreed-"

"We did. Don't worry, this won't take long." I got down on one knee, and pried the huge cleaver from the thing's hand. I placed it against his neck, and pressed down with my other hand, swiftly decapitating him.

"That is just sick Xander." She said as she came to a stop with the wagon in tow.

"I'm sure Miranda would agree with you, if she still had a _working jaw_. Or maybe if she were _still alive_." I stuffed the head into the pillowcase I had found in one of the bedrooms.

"_Miranda_? How come Rodriguez, Sanders, and Hall weren't Jonathan, Paul and Lawrence?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" I asked as I got up, and started toward the other one, leaving her standing there.

"You're making this _way_ too personal." She called out.

"It _is_ personal."

She easily caught up with me. "Just because she kind of looks like Willow doesn't mean you have to freak out like this."

I stopped and turned to her. "I'm not freaking out, just committed. When I dusted Jesse, I decided right then and there that killing vampires was what I was going to do. New place, new enemy."

"But-"

"No Cor, now it's my turn." I was surprised to see her actually wait to see what I'd say. "This isn't just because that Gear has a vague resemblance to Willow. She had armor and training."

"But we already knew that Xander..."

I shook my head. "Come on Cordy, let's keep moving." I turned toward the Locust she had killed.

"You aren't making any sense." She grabbed my arm and spun me back around.

"That's because you don't get it, I almost got chainsawed in that alley yesterday! Then they would have hunted you down!"

"But everything worked out, we-"

"Only because that thing was a sadistic asshole! Like I said, _you-don't-get-it_. All I can see in my head is you being dragged down the street by a fucking meat hook."

"I killed that Locust thing myself though, I didn't have to hide behind you or sneak up on him."

"I'm glad you could do that, it makes things a lot easier. That doesn't change the fact that they're going to keep looking for us."

**=H=H=**

"What? So cutting off their heads to hang on a fence is going to help. Why didn't I think of that?" She said sarcastically.

"It might make them think twice, demoralize the enemy."

"I don't understand."

"My Uncle Rory told me about it when he was talking about his time in Vietnam. They'd leave playing cards on the bodies, or take ears as trophies." [See A/N]

I started to walk again, and she joined me. We both realized how stupid it was to just be standing out there.

"My uncle was stationed in I Corps, part of a battalion that fought to keep the Vietcong out of the country along the DMZ. They were on the front line, and they needed any edge they could get."

"How?"

"Think of it like this Cor, how did you keep your Cordettes in line?"

"If they pissed me off, I'd ream them in front of the whole school."

"Exactly, soldiers know they face death. But beheadings, or other nasty things like that are something else."

"So if we leave the heads where they can find them..."

"They might think twice about taking us on. Especially since they don't know how many of us there are."

She sighed. "Okay Xander, It's nasty, but I guess it's worth a try."

"I'm glad you think so." I held out the cleaver to her, as we reached the second body. "Your kill, your chop."

She took it in her hands and looked down at it. "I don't know-"

"Come on Cor," I interrupted. "These things were dragging that poor woman around on that hook while she was still alive."

She knelt down at it's side and raised the blade over her head. After taking a few seconds to aim, she brought the cleaver down, and sawed through the rest of the way.

"Nice cut." I said simply.

I grabbed the poles I had whittled from the wagon, and limped toward a nearby yard. Tossing the head aside, I planted the broken mop, and broom handles into the ground a good foot and a half.

I slowly walked over to her and grabbed the head and a can of spray paint. After jamming the heads onto the poles I knelt on the pavement and made our new mark in red. A large '**C**' with an '**H**' inside of it.

She stood there, staring at the heads when I got back to my feet.

"You ready to go Cordy?" I asked, as I tossed the second cleaver into the wagon and grabbed the handle..

"I still think that's nasty." She turned, and saw me with the handle. "Aren't you getting in?"

"Fuck it, I'm gonna try walking for a while."

**=H=H=**

Finally, we started moving towards the house again. We walked in silence, both keeping an eye out for any more Locust.

"Hey Xander, since we're taking a few days off, can you show me how to work those guns we've got?"

"I thought I already did?"

"No, not this thing." She pointed to my holster. "The long one, with the lens thing on it."

I grinned, the Locust were in deep shit now.

**=H=H=**

**A/N: The mutilation of enemy combatants in Vietnam has never been proven. Xander's uncle simply embellished such things, to liven up the story.**

A/N 2: I realized that while I try to be as descriptive as possible, sometimes it just isn't enough. If I'm reading a story with an unfamiliar crossover, I like to look the characters up on YouTube or a Wiki.

Hopper/Skipper - Wretch

Helmet - Cyclops

Goggles - Sniper

Ball and chain - Mauler

Cleaver and meat hook - Butcher

More will be added as they are encountered, I hope this helps.

**=H=H=**

**END**


	8. Girl About Town

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**GIRL ABOUT TOWN**

**=H=H=**

My ass was freezing. As I got up, off of the wooden crate that served as a toilet seat in the backyard, I'd found a new reason to wish I was back in California.

I scrambled to get back inside, and decided we'd have to add a blanket for a roof to go with the one's we'd set up as privacy walls. The snow I had to brush off, had just made things intolerable. I groaned as I thought what Cordy's reaction would be.

After coming back into the house, I went into the dining room to once again inspect our small armory. I had laid everything out on the table this morning, so that Cordelia and I could decide how to proceed. Now, I was just waiting for her to wake up.

We'd managed to get two more pistols like the one I'd found on the soldier. I decided Cordy could take one, and I'd carry Rodriguez's revolver.

The sniper rifle that Cordelia was so interested in was huge, almost the length of the table. I was amazed how light it was though. I just hoped we could figure out how to use the scope on the thing. That had me worried, especially considering how interested she was in it.

There was also a smaller machine gun, without a chainsaw. It was maybe half the size of the one I had used yesterday. It was beat-up, and rusted in places, but it looked like it could do some damage. I thought this might be a good one for her too.

We had two shotguns. I hadn't even known what they were, until I'd seen the shells for them. It didn't have one of those pump things though, it had a lever to pull. It reminded me of the one Arnold used in T2.

Finally, there were three things on chains. There was a handle, a foot long length of chain, and then a head. Two were similar to each other, they were about six inches long and wide. The third was the same length, but three inches in width.

I was pretty sure they were grenades, but I didn't want to mess with them until I knew what I was doing. We also had a reasonable amount of ammo as well, I figured as long as we didn't get into a full-scale firefight, we'd be okay for now.

I sighed, and hoped Cordy would wake up soon, I wanted to get down to business. I had promised her I'd wait to go out until my ankle was healed, but I was aching to see how much damage I could do with them.

**=H=H=**

I sat at the table getting breakfast ready as Cordelia came down the stairs. "Morning Cor, I have good news, and bad news."

"Xander, I just woke up, I don't need this crap." She definitely wasn't a morning person.

"Fine, I just wanted to soften the blow."

"I'm going to give you a-" She gave me a dark look. "For _what_?"

I snorted at her near miss. "Like I said, good news, or bad?"

"Well, considering last time we did this, the bad news was that you _peed yourself_. I don't think I need to worry." She replied smugly.

"Fine Cordy, the good news is, I found a can of the chicken soup you like."

"Okay loser, what's the bad news?"

"Let's just say, if you want to use the latrine, bring a snow shovel."

"What?"

I cracked a smile. Oh yeah, I still got it.

**=H=H=**

After breakfast and insults, we went into the dining room so I could show Cordy our arsenal.

"Wow, when I packed it up, I didn't realize there was so much of it."

I could see her practically drooling over the sniper rifle, it was amazing what a few fight or flights could do to a cheerleader. She had the same look in her eyes Buffy did, whenever she got a new sword or axe.

"What are these?" She asked, as she picked up one of the chain things.

"I'm pretty sure they're grenades."

Cordy let out a little yelp, and dropped it back on the table. "You could have warned me ahead of time dork."

"What's the fun in that?" I replied as I reached for the sniper rifle.

She smacked me in the back of the head. "_That_ was fun, now give me that thing."

I placed the stock on the floor in front of her. The barrel came up to her breasts, something I couldn't help but notice.

"Have you inspected _all_ the guns this closely?" Cordelia asked icily.

"Uh, why don't go into the backyard, and see how this thing works?"

"Nice save dweeb, but you're still going to pay for that." She replied as she hefted the large rifle.

After grabbing the smaller assault rifle, I left to go out the back door. "I never had any doubt Cor."

**=H=H=**

After she dressed heavily, we got outside, and Cordelia looked extremely unhappy with the snow. Unhappy enough to curse it a half-dozen times. Once she got it out of her system, she made sure to peek around both sides of the house to see the street was clear.

When we were reasonably sure we wouldn't be interrupted, I popped both lens caps and held it up to my shoulder. As I looked through the scope, I was amazed how close everything appeared. By twisting the knob on the scope, I was able to zoom in close enough to clearly see Sanders' dog tag.

When I passed it to Cordy, she mimicked what she saw me do. "Wow! I could kill one of those things from so far away, they'd never be able to find me!"

I shook my head. "I don't think it's that easy Cor, in the movies, they had to make calculations, and be aware of the direction of the wind and stuff."

"I never saw that in any movie." She replied indignantly.

"That's cause they don't have snipers in chick flicks."

She gave me a dirty look. "What do I get to shoot?"

"Nothing, I don't want to attract attention to the house."

She sullenly pointed it down toward the ground. "How are we going to test it then?"

"I've got an idea, but you won't let me leave the yard, remember?"

"It can wait-" She grabbed my arm. "Look."

"_**Ground walkers!**_" A distorted voiced announced from the street.

I followed here gaze, and saw another Locust in a helmet. This one had metal spikes along the top like a mohawk. He was in the street, with a revolver in his hand. He was staring back at us, but didn't move.

"Oh shit."

I raised the assault rifle to shoot, and he took off running, probably to get reinforcements. I guessed the heads had worked.

"We've got to get whatever we can from the house and get out of here."

"What?" She turned to me, shocked. "No Xander."

"We can't fight them all Cor. We'll find a new place, I promise. But we've got to move, _now_."

She dropped the sniper rifle and snatched the assault rifle right out of my hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" I watched as she ran after the mohawk guy.

"We are _not_ losing this house!" She yelled over her shoulder, before disappearing out of sight.

"Cordelia, get back here!" I just stood there for a second in disbelief.

I knew I couldn't run after her on this ankle. I moved to the back door as fast as I could, and into the house. I grabbed the revolver, and one of the shotguns. I tossed one of the meat cleavers, along with some extra ammo, and a can of paint into a backpack, just in case.

Finally, I grabbed two of the comm's from the clean ashtray next to the door. I decided from now on, we'd be carrying them _anytime_ we left the house. I wasn't going to go through this crap again.

As I left the house and went in the general direction they had gone, I really hoped Cordelia knew what she was doing.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I still didn't know what I was thinking, chasing after this thing. I was just _so_ angry. The house was where we kept everything we had to survive, and that bastard was trying to take it all away.

I had finally caught sight of him two blocks up, and one over. Mohawk was obviously bigger and stronger, but with that ugly, shoulder pad armor, he couldn't outrun me.

As I neared him, he reached his right arm back, and fired off a shot without bothering to look back. It was way off, striking the snowy ground to my right.

In response, I aimed for Mohawk's back as I continued after him, but all I got was a click. What if Xander hadn't loaded it? What if it didn't work? I was quickly snapped out of my worry by another shot though.

This time, he had looked over his shoulder to aim. He still missed, but not by much.

I pulled the trigger, another click. Smacking the gun several times, I tried desperately to get it to fire.

Mohawk must have noticed I wasn't shooting back. He stopped, and whirled around on me. There was only about twelve feet separating us, and I realized he was raising his gun to shoot.

I threw myself against the rear of a broken down car just in time. The bullet flew straight past the spot I had been a second ago. I was _really_ wishing Xander were here right now.

I looked desperately at the gun to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. Suddenly, there it was, a switch! In the mean time, I could hear Mohawk make an evil laugh as he approached me.

I remembered the doofus had showed me the safety on the pistol yesterday, this thing had one too. I flicked it back twice, and hoped that would solve the problem.

I crawled to the passenger side of the car as he came along the driver side. I gripped the gun tightly as his boots crunched through the snow. I prayed this would work, since I only had one chance. After that, I was dead.

Mohawk reached the back of the car and fired at the spot I had just been in. I quickly stood up, and pulled the trigger. The shots went through where the back window used to be, hitting him in the left arm and side several times. He made an awful sound, and fell over.

I circled around the front of the car, not wanting to give him a clear shot if he were still alive. Mohawk lay on his back, still moving a little bit. I let out a small giggle as I imagined him trying to make a snow angel. The pistol was a foot or so from his right hand.

After kicking it away, like the police shows on television, I put my boot down on his right hand to get his attention. He made a noise that I assumed was pain, and turned his head to face me.

I leaned in toward him. "Is that black mesh over your eyes? What are you _ten_?" I knew I should just get out of there, but I wanted to get some answers first.

He stared at me, making a nasty wheezing sound.

"Are there any more of you nearby?" I could see red-orange blood dripping down from underneath his helmet, I was running out of time.

I could feel him trying to get his hand loose. I just leaned further down on it.

"I know you speak English asshole." I ground my boot into his hand. "Tell me something useful, and I'll let you go."

Mohawk made a series of grunts, groans, and possibly a belch.

I glared at him with disgust. "Fine, if that's how you want to do things." I stood up and shot him another four times in the chest. After giving his body a kick in the ribs for good measure, I decided it was time to leave.

My vengeance complete, I grabbed his gun from the snow-covered pavement and stuffed it down the back of my pants. Then, I looked for a place I could hide out in, I wanted to see if our little tiff had drawn any notice.

"_Loser_." I spat at the body as I stalked off.

**=H=H=**

I found a house half-way down the block with an unlocked door. Once inside, I brushed all the snow off of me, and collapsed on to a dusty couch. I couldn't believe I had actually done it!

While I broke Xander's balls, I couldn't complain about the way he had watched out for me. If I wanted to be completely honest, he could have left me to the Hellmouth, and nobody would have blamed him.

Instead, he tried to save me, and had continued to do so since we got here. That's what made this all the better for me, I had done it on my own. Now, as long as the Locust hadn't noticed, all I had to do was get home in one piece.

It hit me then, it wasn't just some random house that we used for lack of a better place now. Xander and I had made it a home, we had worked together to make it livable, improving it for safety, and comfort. That's why I had chased after that freak to begin with, I didn't want to start over again.

Besides that, I just hoped Xander wasn't too worried about me. I sighed, _yeah right_. When he found me, I knew I was in for it. He pretty much tried to keep the peace most of the time, he was mostly an easy going guy. But I'd seen the Harris temper before, when he was angry enough, he let people know it.

I remembered when we were in third grade, a couple of fifth graders had pushed Willow down the slide before she was ready. She had lost her balance on the way down, and fell off the side near the bottom. It wouldn't have been too bad, except she'd been wearing a dress that day. She had flashed her Rainbow-Brite panties to the entire schoolyard upon landing, and Willow had been absolutely _mortified_.

Xander had gone over to make sure she was alright, then he'd waited for the fifth graders to come down the slide. He'd tackled the first one to hit the bottom, and pounded away on him, not seeming to care that his opponent was much larger. When the second one made it down, he pried Xander off, and they had beat the shit out of him. Poor Xander never stood a chance.

That would have been enough for most people, but not Xander, the next day he went after the kids again. This continued for the rest of the week, he'd get a few punches in, and the fifth graders would beat him to a pulp.

It didn't end until the principle had brought in Xander's parents, and had threatened to expel him if he kept it up. He'd come in the following Monday covered in bruises, and after that, he'd been a lot quieter in school. I didn't realize what it meant at the time, but I did now.

Even after all the crap he'd gotten at home, not to mention all the stuff I'd said and done to him over the years, he still cared about me. I just didn't know how to repay him for it.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I had been making my way down the streets for half an hour now. While I wasn't nearly as slowed as I had been, my ankle could have definitely used some more time off. I'd heard gunshots awhile back, but nothing recent. With those two running, I wasn't sure how far ahead they were of me. Hell, I didn't know if Cordy was dead, and just the possibility of it was killing me inside.

While I had been able to follow their tracks for a short time, the snow was coming down steadily enough, that they were getting covered up quickly. The street I was walking on now, was the last to have had visible tracks.

I held the shotgun close to me. It was loaded up, but I hoped I wouldn't need to use it. While she was by no means helpless, Cordelia had grabbed a gun we hadn't even tested yet, she was lucky the thing was even loaded.

I was really worried that the Locust had been a decoy, and she'd run into an ambush. I'd considered calling out her name, but decided that would be a last resort. Sure I might find Cordy, but more likely the Locust would find me instead.

Being so focused on finding her, I almost missed the body on the ground to my right. The red-orange blood against the white snow had made it stand out.

I gingerly knelt down, and examined what was left of the Mohawk. His entire chest was shredded, and his revolver was missing. It _had_ to be the one Cordy was chasing. I looked around desperately to see if there was any red blood, but I saw none.

I let out a small sigh of relief, I wouldn't be satisfied until I found her, but it was certainly looking better then it had. Standing up, I looked at the buildings along both sides of the street. I figured Cordy was hiding in one of them to wait for the heat to die down.

A loud screech to my left quickly got my attention though. I looked towards it, and saw several skippers. They were on the ground, and others were climbing on top of the cars. They stopped and sat there watching me, as I stood watching them.

I had eight shells for the shotgun and six rounds in the revolver. The problem was, I didn't know how many more there were, that I couldn't see. The street was choked with cars, and every one of them could easily hide two or three of them.

There was no running this time, if I turned my back, I was done. I backed up and started toward the closest building to my right, I could see the one's on the roofs start to creep forward.

Without turning away, I tried the door on the building, locked. There was no time to get to kick it in. On the bright side, I had a wall to my back. Facing out, I could see they were starting to inch forward now, waiting for an opening.

"Come get me you cock-suckers!" I was ready. The first of the banana-heads to get within seven feet of me, was getting a shell in the face.

One got some courage and came at me, I pulled the trigger. It went down with a screech. I worked the lever and shot another one. The things were spreading out now, trying to surround me.

As I used the lever once again, another charged from the right. I kicked it back and turned to shoot one coming to my left. Five more appeared on top of or around the cars. I was fucked.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Come get me you cock-suckers!"

I jumped off the couch, with a start. That was Xander! All of a sudden, there was a boom, and then another. He'd come looking for me and now he was fighting something.

I rushed out the door, determined not to let whatever it was hurt him. As I got out to the street, I could see those hopping things surrounding him. He kicked one and then shot another.

I ran towards the fight, and could see at least four hoppers, but I was too far away to shoot them. I didn't want to waste whatever ammo I still had left in my gun.

Three of them noticed my presence and started towards me. I shot the closest one four times, killing it. I shot the next a single time, then my gun was empty.

Xander's gun went off three more times, I hoped he had killed the one's attacking him. I threw my rifle at the hopper, and fumbled for the pistol I had picked up from Mohawk.

I aimed at the second one and fired. I was suddenly hit in the face by something, and I fell back on my butt. The hopper I had just shot was dead, but the third was quickly bearing down on me.

"Cordy, get out of the way!" I could see Xander running towards me with what I thought was a shotgun.

I didn't ask questions, I rolled to the right. Another boom sounded, and I watched as the things legs got blown off. The hopper crawled toward me, and reached for my ankle. I looked down at it in disgust, as I brought my boot down on it's head with a splat.

I looked up to see Xander calmly reloading his gun. He finished and looked back at me. I groaned, I could tell he was furious.

**=H=H=**

"What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" Xander yelled as he walked up to me.

"I didn't want to lose our freaking house!"

"Why didn't I think of that?" He threw his hands up in the air. "Because having that house to live in, really makes you dead in a street somewhere seem totally worth it!"

"I was just trying to help, okay." I replied defensively.

He dropped the gun on the ground, and pulled me into a hug. "Cor, please don't ever do that to me again."

I held him tight, glad he wasn't _too_ mad at me. "I'm sorry Xander, I just didn't want us to lose our house."

He pulled back, holding me at arms length, to inspect me for any injuries. "You know you're going to have a nasty bruise, right?"

I looked at him confused. "From what?"

"That revolver smacked you in the face after you shot that skipper. Why do you think you ended up on the ground?"

"That's what did it?"

He pulled his backpack off and handed me a few clips for my gun. "Don't worry Cordy, you're still beautiful." He said with a smile.

"Like there was any doubt dork." I replied, as I stuffed the clips in my pockets.

He pulled out the cleaver. "Get all the stuff together while I take care of your buddy over there."

"What about the hoppers?"

"Not worth our time." He said, as he headed towards Mohawk's body.

I picked up my gun out of the snow, and figured out how to switch clips, while Xander found a nice place for the head.

I watched as he finished up, by spray painting our mark on a nearby car door. There was no point leaving it on the ground, if it was just going to be covered up by snow.

"You ready?" He called out as he finished up.

"Yeah Xander, let's go." I waited until he caught up to me before, we walked back to our now secure, home.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I fell back on to the couch, exhausted. My feet were killing me from trudging through all that snow. After cleaning up, which now consisted of rubbing clumps of snow all over to get the dirt off, I was freezing. The only thing we could do was put on layers, since we had no heat.

We had walked up and down streets, covering a ten block area. Walked up to every house and store, before coming back to our house. It had taken four hours, but we figured there was no way the Locust could tell where exactly we were, at least for the time being.

Looking back on what had happened today, I figured our run-in with the Mohawk was pure coincidence. If it had been an ambush, there would have been a lot more then a few skippers waiting for us.

"How are you feeling?" Cordy asked as she came in from the kitchen with two cans of food, each with a fork in them.

"My ankle isn't as bad as I thought." I held it up for her to see and wiggled my toes. "I think I'll be fine tomorrow."

She sat down next to me. "We'll see doofus, we aren't going out again until _I_ say so."

"Shouldn't that go both ways?" I asked bluntly.

Cordelia smacked my thigh. "Don't start Xander, at least I could run away if I had to."

"But-"

"Shut up and eat your creamed corn." She said, jamming a can into my hands.

I checked the contents, it was indeed creamed corn. This was the good stuff in our house, equal to prime rib.

"What did you get Cor, peaches?"

She looked down into her can. "No."

"Come on Cor, you're killing me." I pressed her. "How rare is it that we both get two good cans in one meal? What did you get?"

She gave a loud sigh before turning to me. "Lima beans, are you happy now?"

"But you hate those things."

Cordelia suddenly stood up in front of me, clearly annoyed. "Can't I just do something nice? Why do I always have to have an ulterior motive for everything Xander?"

"That's not what I meant Cor."

"It _is_ Xander. You have something good, so I must have something better." She started to pace in front of me. "It couldn't possibly be because you saved my life _again_ today, could it?

I saw that she had stopped pacing and was staring right at me, putting me on the spot.

"It's not like that." I replied defensively, she had me on the ropes, and she knew it.

"I want more of a say in things around here from now on."

"We're partners in this Cordy, we have been since the beginning."

"Really?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

I was starting to hate that word. "What are you talking about? I give you first pick on food, don't I?"

"Is that the _best_ you could come up with? First pick on food?"

I nodded, I didn't know where she was going with this.

"What about the guns?"

"What about them? I gave you the rifle you wanted."

"That's just it Xander. You _gave_ me the rifle, it wasn't yours to give, but that's the way you see it. Just like the pistol I've got, did you even consider maybe I liked the one you have?"

"You can have it." I told her, just wanting to end this.

"I don't want it, do you see my point?" She knelt down next to me and took my hand. "You've wanted to do this or that and I've gone along with it. I've asked one thing, that you stay in until your ankle heals, and you've second guessed me on it _twice_ now."

I stared down at my lap, had I really been that much of a dick? "I'm sorry Cor, I didn't realize that this was such a problem for you."

"Hey."

I looked up at her, she had a smile on her face.

"I'm not mad at you dork, I just wanted you to know I'm not the bubble-headed cheerleader anymore."

"I never thought were Cor, I've known for a long time it was just an act."

"Good answer." She replied as she picked up her can and sat back down next to me. "Now finish your corn, before I change my mind."

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I sighed as I capped my pen and placed it, and my journal back into the top drawer of my desk. I had never been one to keep a diary in Sunnydale, I was always too afraid Mother, or worse, Harmony would find it.

Now, I was afraid _not_ to. If something happened to us, I at least wanted _someone_ to know we existed here. I hadn't told Xander yet, I was a little worried he'd think it was silly.

I shivered suddenly, even though I'd thrown on an extra sweatshirt to try to keep warm. I really missed my silky nightgowns, but the blankets just weren't making the cut anymore.

After my snow bath, it was tough to get warm again. I thought about what First Sergeant Rodriguez had said about the winters here, from all the snow outside, I knew it wouldn't get better anytime soon.

Being awake, and cold was one thing, trying to sleep in it was a pain in the butt. I had been mulling an idea over in my head for a couple of days now, but after tonight's talk with Xander, I thought it was the right time.

Candle in hand, I padded down the hallway, my triple-socked feet not making a sound. I stood in front of Xander's door ready to knock, but I hesitated. This could go badly.

I gathered up my courage and knocked on the door.

"Yeah."

I opened the door, and saw he was in sweats, covered by an over-sized set of plain red pajamas. He had turned his bed down already, so I knew I'd caught him just in time.

"What's up Cordy?"

"It's really... cold in my room." I replied uncomfortably, as I took a few steps into his room.

"I think I've got some extra blankets-"

"That's not what I'm asking for." I could tell he was completely oblivious.

"I've got some spare sweats if-"

"Xander, shut up." I sighed. "This is hard enough."

"Spit it out already Cor, please."

In the flickering light, I could tell he regretted how that had come out, but I just wanted to get this over with.

"Fine jerk, do you want to sleep together?"

"I.. uh.. I-"

"Not like _that_ you moron." I glared at him. "I'm freezing, if you can be an adult about it, we can both get a better night's sleep."

He paused for a second, I was betting he hadn't slept with a female in his bed since he, and Willow were kids.

"Ah, yeah Cor. That sounds uh, like a good idea. Keeping warm and all..."

I smiled, this was _too_ easy. If I had suggested anything more, his head would have probably exploded. "Fine, we'll use my bed, it's bigger."

"Okay." He replied dumbly.

He followed me silently into my room, I was guessing he was afraid I'd change my mind along the way otherwise.

I blew out the candle, and sat it back on my desk. I turned to see him standing there, just inside the door.

"Um, where do you-"

"You take the right, I'll take the left. How does that sound?"

"Fine."

"Now it's a big bed, with plenty of room. Stick to your own side mister."

"Yeah, sure Cor."

I turned down the blankets and climbed in, facing away from him. Shortly after, I could feel him hesitantly climb in as well. He snuffed the light, and we lay there in the darkness together.

"Night Cordy." A yawn followed immediately after.

"Goodnight Xander."

It didn't take long for me to feel the heat. As I snuggled into the covers, I knew I had made the right choice.

**=H=H=**

**A/N 2: Locust:**

Mohawk - Bolter

**=H=H=**

**END**


	9. I Spy, With My Little Eye

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**I SPY, WITH MY LITTLE EYE**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I woke up to the oddest sensation. I was wrapped around something that _wasn't_ a pillow. I opened my eyes, and saw brunette hair inches from my face. Oh shit. I didn't know what I would do if Cordy woke up.

This hadn't happened yesterday morning, I had woken to each of us on our own side of the bed. Now, I was just glad I was used to being up early.

I unclasped my hand from her stomach, and tried to slowly work my arm out from underneath her.

"Mmmm." She grabbed my hand and pulled it back to her.

I knew if she woke up, she was going to cut my balls off. I tried to gently wriggle free, but stopped when she squeezed my arm, hard.

"You're warm. If you try that again, I _will_ hurt you."

I had my arms around a beautiful woman, who was I to complain?

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I looked in the mirror, staring at my face. The barrel of the gun had left a cut on my nose, a rectangular bruise to the right of it that ran from the bridge down to my top lip, and my lip had been busted as well.

If I had tried to go to Sunnydale High like this, they would have laughed me right out the door. Xander had offered a band-aid, and a smile. Other then that, he acted like it wasn't even there, something I really appreciated.

As I came down the stairs, I could hear Xander in the kitchen. I smiled, he had breakfast ready for me every morning when I woke up. It was nice to have someone do that for you because they wanted to, not because they got paid for it.

"Morning." He said, not lifting his head up from the can he was opening.

"Hey Xander, what's for breakfast?" I asked, as I placed a bag on the table.

"Hold on Cor. It's either dog food or..." He popped the lid of the second can with his knife. "...cream of mushroom."

I noticed he still hadn't looked at me. "Okay buster, what's going on?"

"I just wanted to say sorry about this morning." He muttered.

"Xander, you tried to pull back and I wouldn't let you. How exactly is that your fault?"

"It's just, I didn't want you to think-"

I held up my hand. "There are enough guns in this house to start a small war." I thought about that for a second. "Actually, that's what we're using them for, but that's not my point."

"Okay."

"My point is, if I thought you had taken advantage, I would have shot you."

"That makes me feel much better Cor."

I smiled. "Glad to hear it, after breakfast, I've got a surprise for you." I patted the bag a few times.

"I can't wait." He replied sullenly.

I wasn't worried, he was going to _love_ his present.

**=H=H=**

"No, absolutely not."

"Xander, I got these to help keep you warm."

"I don't care, I'm not wearing them." He replied firmly.

I sighed, I couldn't believe he was being such a stubborn ass. While I had been getting clothes together at the store, I had grabbed a bunch of large pairs of black tights for him. I'd also grabbed a few girl's sizes to go over our arms. Of course, he'd rather freeze.

"They're black, it's not like I got you pink or something." I tried to reason.

"No."

I threw my hands up in the air, I had tried. "Don't complain to me when you freeze today you goof."

"I won't."

"_Fine_!" I yelled. This is what I got for trying to help.

"_Good_!" He walked out of the kitchen without another word, and into the dining room. Where our 'armory' was. He been spending a lot of time in there lately, it just had to be a guy thing.

He was finally able to run on his ankle again, and I was guessing he was eager to get out there today. We were running low on food, and he really wanted me to try out the sniper rifle.

He had been going on and on about his plan for it, since we ran into that Mohawk. He refused to tell me what it was though, I was guessing it was because I wouldn't let him leave yet.

I grabbed the bag from the table and headed back up to my room. I was a little hurt that he had dismissed my idea so quickly, it wasn't like I was going to sneak up and take pictures of him in them.

As I entered, I tossed the bag into the corner and tugged on my boots. We still had to bury Corporal Murphy too. I felt really bad about that, she must have been _so_ close to our house when she'd died. It was heart-breaking to think we could have helped her, and I realized it was going to be another long day.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

We walked down the familiar street, both of us wary for any Locust that might be hiding out.

Cordelia was carrying her small machine gun, the sniper rifle was strapped to her back at an angle, between her back and the pack.

I carried the chainsaw rifle in one hand, with a shovel slung over my shoulder. The shotgun was on my back. I figured we were as ready as we could be.

As we passed the two heads of the Butcher guys, I wasn't surprised to see that their bodies were gone. If the Locust were hungry enough to drag off almost every corpse in town, it would have been stupid to pass up on _those_ two.

"Why didn't they take the heads?" Cordy asked, breaking the silence.

"Who knows Cor, maybe it just wasn't worth their time."

Shortly after, we stopped in front of the house we had left Miranda in. "Why don't you go check, and make sure they didn't take her body, I'll start digging."

She made her way to the back of the house. I checked the front door, and saw that it was still intact, but I just wanted to be sure. No point in digging a grave without a body.

The front door opened, and Cordelia stuck her head out. "Everything is just as we left it Xander."

That was a huge relief to me, I couldn't stand the thought of those things eating her, even if she was dead.

"Do you want me to leave the door locked for now?"

"No Cor, why don't you stay on the second floor with your rifle, keep an eye out for any more patrols."

"Okay Xander. Let me know if you need a break, I'll do some digging."

"Thanks." I turned back to the snow-covered front lawn, I was really sick of having to dig graves.

**=H=H=**

After two hours of work, we had buried Miranda, and made a cross like we had for the other Gears. I would have liked to place her next to the others, but it was too dangerous to make that kind of move now.

We moved down another street, going toward an area we'd been to before. There was no sight of the Locust yet, it was nothing but a cat and mouse game now. I had debated which we were for a couple of days now, I still couldn't decide.

"So what's this test you came up with to see if my rifle works or not?"

I smirked. "You'll love it, we're going to have some live targets."

"Really?" She asked, perking up immediately.

"Yeah, remember that three story we cleared out? The one we found that lamp in, the one you really liked?"

"That was a really nice lamp." She said with a sigh.

I held back a laugh, I didn't care what a lamp looked like as long as it worked. "You know I would have got it for you if we had electricity."

"I know Xander, that's what's so annoying."

"Anyways, it's a perfect place to shoot from."

She gave me a look. "Yeah, that's great Xander. Then all we have to do is wait for some Locust to come strolling along."

"Not if we give them something to come looking for, I'm going to start a fire down the street directly across from the building. When they come to investigate, you get your shot."

"What if I miss, or they come after us?"

"There's a back entrance that leads to a courtyard, we can use it to go in a half-dozen different directions."

She looked a little nervous, but nodded. Shifting the chainsaw gun to my other hand, I took her left hand.

"Don't worry Cor, if that rifle works like we hope, I know you'll do a good job with it."

She gave a small smile. "Thanks dweeb."

We walked hand-in-hand, making small talk the rest of the way. I really had high hopes for what would happen today.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

Three hours. Three long hours since Xander had started the fire in a rusted old barrel, and _nothing_. He had thrown as many burnable things he could find onto it, and he'd only had to throw more stuff on to it twice so far.

He wanted to make sure they couldn't easily track us to what building we were in if things went bad. It had definitely been funny watching him try to move around with those boards tied to his feet though.

I sat on the floor, my back to the wall, as he looked through the scope. Looking over at Xander, I saw him shivering. I smiled to myself, I bet he was second-guessing his decision to not use my present now. While far from toasty, I was definitely doing better then him.

We'd been taking turns watching the fire for any sign of the Locust. Currently, I was painting my nails purple. I wasn't crazy about the color, but it was what I had available.

"You know dweeb, maybe they are too _stupid_ to understand what smoke means." I stated, bored.

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Cor, if they understand how to work a gun, I'm sure they can figure out fire."

"I know that, I just want to shoot something."

"Since when did you-" He tensed up. "Here we go Cor."

I perked up immediately, leaving three nails still undone. "What do you see?"

He handed me the rifle. "Why don't you take a look for yourself." He then picked up the nice pair of binoculars we'd found, while scrounging.

I looked through the scope, and saw five figures searching the area around the fire. One was recognizable, it was one of those guys with the goggles. He was currently holding my favorite gun. Three were shirtless, nothing really special about them, they were all carrying machine guns like mine.

The last was weird though. He was a foot taller then the others, but had this red and brown armor. He wore a helmet with a slit across it to see and there was a four-point symbol above it. What really made him stand out though, was the strange gun in his hand, and the tank on his back. I couldn't figure out what they were supposed to do.

"What's that tank for?" I asked, pulling back from the scope.

Xander was studying them through the binoculars. He turned to me with a big grin on his face. "Just shoot it, you'll see."

As I aimed, he grabbed anything loose off of the floor, in case we needed to make a quick escape. "Are you ready Xander?"

"Ready when you are Cor." He gave me a small pat on the shoulder for support.

It was weird to see things so close, I turned the knob, and it made a sound like a camera taking a picture. I had to make these two circles the scope used to magnify everything line up. It was a little tough to get used to at first, but I managed to put the diamond shaped center on Tank's tank.

I took a deep breath, and felt the cut on my nose itch, I ignored it. I placed my finger on the trigger and I knew it all came down to this. If I couldn't hit that big tank, this gun was nothing more then a club.

"Just take your time Cor. As dumb as these guys are to run around without shirts, even they like the heat."

I waited until Tank's back was to me, so I had the biggest target possible. I counted to three as I centered on it, and pulled the trigger. I jerked my face back from the explosion that engulfed the entire area of where Tank had been.

"Holy shit." Xander said in awe. "I wasn't expecting it to be _that_ big."

I turned toward him, a giggle escaping my lips. "That was awesome."

He snorted, likely at my over-enthusiasm. He peered through the binoculars once again, probably to take in all the carnage we had caused.

"You missed one Cordy."

"Where?" I growled, annoyed I hadn't gotten them all with one shot.

"Take a look, he's crawling toward us right now."

Once again, I put my eye to the scope, it took a few seconds but I found him. I could see one of the shirtless Locust, on his hands, make that _hand_ and knees. His leathery gray skin was blackened and red along his left side and face.

I worked the bolt as Xander had shown me, before putting the diamond on the crown of his skull. "You want his head?"

"Naw Cor, special occasion. He's all yours."

"Thanks." I pulled the trigger. Less then a second later, his head exploded.

I stood up, and placed the rifle against the wall. I took my time stretching my sore muscles, happy to be able to move around again.

"Great shooting. That rifle is amazing too, it's so completely different from the ones at home. All I can say is, I'm glad I wasn't right this time."

I rolled my eyes as he went on. What was it with guys and guns?

"You're ignoring me aren't you?"

"I'm sure the gun likes you too Xander." I said mockingly, as I gave him a couple of pats on the head.

He shook his head free from my hand. "C'mon Cor, let's get outta here."

We went down the three flights of stairs, and out the back door. We strolled through the walled courtyard, avoiding stone planters, and made our way to the street.

As we cleared the entryway, I saw movement to my left. Turning, my heart dropped. There were six of them this time, including a really big one with a _huge_ gun. I grabbed Xander's arm to get his attention, but the Locust beat me to it.

"_**Uh-tak!**_" One of them called out and bullets started flying.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I was feeling pretty good as we walked through the courtyard. After Cordelia's excellent showing with the sniper rifle, I figured things would be just a little bit easier for us.

With her confidence up, she was that much better off surviving. On top of that, it made me feel somewhat better, while I knew she could take care of herself, worry for her ate at me every time we left the house.

I felt Cordy suddenly grip my arm tightly, and then I heard it.

"_**Uh-tak!**_"

Before I could react, they opened fire, and I was falling hard. At first I thought I'd been shot, but then I realized she had yanked me back into the courtyard.

We scrambled behind one of the low walls that were scattered throughout the area. It looked like there used to be plants or something in them. I wasn't a big nature person, but I was definitely appreciating them now.

"Cordy!" I screamed, trying to be heard over the gunfire. "We need to get to the side entrance." I pointed behind us to the right. "The one facing the park!"

We started to crawl through the snow to the next one, trying to put some distance between us. But keeping so low to the ground, hindered our movement.

"How the heck are we going to do that with them shooting at us?" She yelled from in front of me.

We finally got to another low wall, and stopped behind it.

"I'm going to start shooting, and make them take cover. When they do, you run like hell!"

"What about you?"

"_**Boom!**_" A loud voice announced.

I heard a whistling noise, I knew what that meant. I threw myself on top of Cordy, covering as much of her as I could. An explosion happened behind us, looking toward it, about fifteen feet away, there was now a crater in the ground.

"Shit!" Cordelia exclaimed as she got a look at it for herself.

"Cor, I'm going to start shooting. You count to five, and you go!"

I raised the rifle over the side of the wall and started shooting blindly. They had to be practically on top of us by now.

"Cordy go!"

She started running and I decided to peek over the top of the wall. The smaller Locust were taking cover from my fire, but there was a big one, he reminded me of the Butcher. He was just standing there, holding a gun I didn't recognize.

I turned to aim directly at him when he did it again.

"_**Boom!**_"

I took cover behind the wall again, and hoped Cordelia was doing the same. An explosion went off somewhere behind me. Apparently, it was an all or nothing weapon.

A few seconds later, I heard what I hoped was her assault rifle firing.

"Let's go dork! You have a bigger clip then I do!"

That was all I needed to hear, I headed toward the area I'd heard her voice from, planning to vault the wall. As I placed my hand on the side, the Boomer did it again.

"_**Boom!**_"

I shoved off, and was clearing it when I felt a heat pass by my right ear. Knowing what it was, I jerked to my left, and landed off balance after slipping in the snow. I had to roll off the side to finally get behind the wall.

"Nice to see you could finally make it." Cordelia said sarcastically, as she reloaded.

**=H=H=**

Slowly, we had made our way to the entrance. All we had to do now was get across the street to the park, and we'd be home free. We'd managed to kill two of the Locust along the way, a Mohawk and another one of those shirtless guys that I thought Rodriguez had called a 'Drone'.

Unfortunately, the Boomer was still alive, and he was being a huge pain in the ass. While we were able to keep the other Locust busy with our fire, he ignored it. Probably too stupid to know we were trying to kill him, judging by his one word vocabulary.

"_**For Queen!**_" A voice growled as we cleared the entrance.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" I exclaimed in anger, as one of the Locust with the ball and chain came down the street toward us from the right, swinging his mace over his head.

Gunfire poured out of the entrance way, cutting us off from our quick exit.

"_**Boom!**_"

The wall opposite us was blown to pieces from the impact of the explosion, this was enough of a distraction for the thing to swing down his weapon. While it didn't hit either of us, the impact knocked us off of our feet.

It threw me against the wall of the courtyard and left Cordy in the middle of the street without any cover. As I picked myself up off the ground, I saw her sitting there in a daze.

"Cordy get into park!"

She got up, and ran toward the wall. She threw her assault rifle over it as she ran. When she reached it, she jumped and pulled herself up, and over it.

"_**Crush!**_" The huge Locust rumbled, as he brought his weapon down at me.

I rolled clear, but once again, ended up on my ass from the shock wave.

**:**_Xander, you've got to get out of there!_**:** Cordelia screamed over the comm.

I got back on my feet, the thing coming at me again. **:**_I'm working on it Cor!_**:**

I watched as the Crusher's head jerked back. The sound of a sniper rifle firing, let me know Cordelia had me covered. He paused, letting the mace drop limply to the ground, as he pulled the rectangular shield closer to him and ducked behind it. It suddenly expanded, extending out a half foot in each direction.

Stupidly, it turned to face her, moving toward her position, and ignoring me.

I turned the knob to start the chainsaw and started to jog up to him.

**:**_Xander get down!_**:**

"_**Boom!**_"

I dropped to the ground, getting a face full of snow, and the motor cut out. A round passed over my head, and hit the wall surrounding the park.

**:**_You okay Cordy?_**:** I still wasn't sure of her exact position in the park.

**:**_I'm fine Xander, now kill that thing with the shield while he's still distracted._**:** She followed this up with another shot at Boomer.

I got to my feet, once again starting the saw. As I reached the Crusher, I jammed the chainsaw in his back. I pulled down, trying to do as much damage as possible.

An inhuman scream came from behind me as Cordy made another shot.

**:**_The Boomer's down, there's nothing blocking the other Locust from shooting you! Move!_**:**

**:**_I want that gun Cor!_**:** I said as I pulled the saw out of the things back, and quickly took cover against the wall next to the Boomer's body. I was just waiting for my chance.

**:**_We should get out of here!_**:**

I peeked around the corner, and fired at a Mohawk. **:**_Just keep shooting!_**:**

**:**_I am so kicking your ass when this is over mister!_**:**

I grinned, happy to hear she had confidence we were going to win this. Before, every encounter we were in, we feared for our lives. Now _they_ were the ones that should be afraid.

My euphoria didn't last long though, I had to duck back as the remaining Locust all directed their fire at me. They couldn't find Cordy, so I was the easy target.

I could hear a scream from one of them and half a second later, I heard the shot. She was really picking them apart.

I started to edge around the wall again to fire, I paused when I heard a rattling sound. When I didn't hear it again, I went for it, only to have my rifle batted from my hands. The fingers on my left hand had gone instantly numb.

"Fuck!" I tripped over my own feet as I pulled away, landing on my back. I grabbed for the revolver, but in my haste I fumbled it.

A seven foot tall Locust came around the corner, he aimed his shotgun down at me. A shot rang out, hitting the wall next to his head. The Locust, startled, swung the shotgun toward the direction it had come from.

That gave me enough time to right the gun and I shot him in the side. He spun toward me and I got him two more times in the chest, before he fell forward, dead.

**:**_Xander, are you okay?_**:** Cordelia screamed into the comm.

**:**_Yeah, how many we got left?_**:** I asked as I picked up the fallen shotgun.

**:**_I see one, and he's heading right for you._**:**

**:**_Save your ammo._**:** I cocked the lever, and waited. The Locust came around the corner, and I fired into his chest. The impact blew him back into the snow with a thud.

**:**_We clear Cor?_**:**

**:**_Yeah Xander, nothings standing._**:**

I watched as she came through the entrance of the park, not as exciting as jumping over the wall, but she seemed to manage.

I turned to look for the Boomer's gun, and saw it laying in the bloodied snow inside the courtyard.

"Let's get this stuff gathered up, and get out of here." I called to her over my shoulder.

Just as I walked back into the courtyard, I heard a motor start to my right.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Ow." I muttered to myself, as I left the park. I rubbed my right butt cheek, I didn't think I'd been shot, since there wasn't much blood, but it definitely hurt.

"Let's get this stuff gathered up, and get out of here." Xander said.

I could tell he was eager to get his hands on that Boomer gun. As I crossed the street I watched him enter the courtyard, and suddenly turn to his right, the shotgun held above his head with both hands.

I watched in horror as a Helmet brought his chainsaw gun down toward him, but it was blocked by Xander's upheld shotgun.

"Xander!" I screamed and started to run to help him, ignoring the pain in my butt. I didn't shoot, because I was afraid I'd hit him. I didn't know what I was going to do.

Unfortunately, Xander wasn't strong enough to match him, he was slowly being pushed to his knees.

I jumped through the hole the Boomer had made, and I was suddenly behind the Helmet. I was again afraid to shoot, but now it was because the bullets might go _through_ the Locust and into Xander.

I dropped my machine gun and pulled out my knife. I ran up and jumped on his back, and pulled his head back with my left hand and stabbed him in the throat with my right. He struggled to fight me off, so I dug the knife in deeper.

Helmet threw himself backwards, as we landed in the snow, the knife jammed down into his neck, and gravity ripped my hand free of it. The breath was knocked out of me, and I lay there stunned. I suddenly noticed the chainsaw still running, and freaked out. I just _knew_ the saw was going to cut into me.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't breathe with Helmet's weight on top of me. Warm liquid was covering my face and neck, and I tried to push him off, but I could barely move my arms, I was trapped!

Suddenly, the saw stopped and Helmet started to move. Oh my God, what if he had killed Xander before I could stop him?

**=H=H=**

"Hold on Cor, I'll have you out from under there in a sec." Xander's voice came to me, and I had never been happier in my life.

Helmet's body was rolled off of me, but I was afraid to open my eyes because my face was covered in blood. I brought my hands up to rub my face, but a hand stopped me.

"Wait right there." His voice was gentle, as he gave my hand a short squeeze.

I heard something drop to the snow and a zipper moving, Xander was rummaging in his bag for something. Shortly after, I felt a cloth carefully wiping the blood away from my face.

Moments later, my eyes felt relatively clear, and I opened them to Xander's smiling face. I started to cry, I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it.

"You okay Cor?" He asked, offering me his hand. His other held a blood covered t-shirt, one of the spares we kept in case it got too cold.

He pulled me up into a sitting position and he wrapped his arms around me. "It's okay, I'm okay" His voice said soothingly.

I pressed my face against his chest and bawled. "I'm so... sorry." I barely managed to choke the words out to him.

"I'm fine, you saved me Cor." He whispered to me, his hands rubbed up and down my back.

We stayed there for several minutes, even in the middle of all the dead Locust, I felt safe. I pulled back, and looked him in the eyes. "I shouldn't have had to save you, I told you they were all dead and that bastard almost killed you."

He sighed. "Cordy, neither of us are perfect. Remember, me, the guy who rode around in your little red wagon? Things worked out, that's all that matters."

"Xander, you almost died today because of _my_ mistake."

"Both of us are alive, right? There aren't any rules in war, If there were, we wouldn't be cutting off heads for display purposes only, would we?"

I giggled as I wiped the tears away. What he said had been so stupid, I couldn't help it.

He stood and looked down at me with a smile, offering his hands. I took them and was easily lifted to my feet.

"The only thing I truly fear is the wrath of Queen C!" He exclaimed to the city.

"Shut up dork." I admonished, trying not to laugh. "Or I'll have to save your ass again."

**=H=H=**

"Hey dweeb, look at this!" I called up to him.

We had decided to take turns keeping an eye out for anymore Locust. He was sitting on the corner of the courtyard wall, with my sniper rifle at the ready.

"What's up Cor?" He asked as he made his way along the wall, before jumping down next to me.

"Look at this guy." I said, pointing down to the Locust who had tried to take Xander's head off with the shotgun.

He knelt down and examined the four objects hanging from the back of a belt.

"Well, that explains the noise I heard." He said simply.

"Huh?"

He turned to me. "Just before that son of a bitch knocked the rifle from my hands, I heard a rattling sound. It was the grenades banging against each other when he moved."

"You're lucky you didn't accidentally shoot one."

Xander shook his head. "They don't work that way Cor, there's a specific thing that needs to be done before they'll explode. Otherwise, no one would carry them."

He carefully rolled Grenade onto his side and unhooked the belt. After pulling it away, he attached it around his waist.

"You better hope you're right geek." I told him, not sure how I felt about him so casually strapping explosives to himself.

We ended up lining the heads up on a park bench, clearly visible from the street. The Boomer, and Mace heads were right in the middle. Then, we went about clearing up all the weapons and ammo we could find.

Xander decided he wanted the mace and shield for projects he had thought of. He flipped a switch to extend the sides, and locked them in place. We put some extra guns we couldn't fit into the bags on top of it, and tied a rope around the handle. Then, we wrapped it up in a bed sheet from a nearby house, and it was ready to go.

As we walked down the street, I realized things had changed. We had been in a straight-up battle against six heavily armed Locust and won. I wasn't sure what I felt, but it was definitely an improvement.

"The snow finally came in handy for something, huh?" I said as I watched the shield glide down the street behind us without a sound.

Xander suddenly stopped. "Why are you limping Cor?"

"It's no big deal Xander, nothing we can't take care of when we get home." I really didn't want to make a big deal of it out here.

"You sure?" He asked, not convinced.

"Yes." I replied sharply.

He shrugged, and started walking again.

I gave a sigh of relief when he had dropped it, then moved to catch up with him.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

We brought everything into the house and left it in the living room. We were both just too tired to bother unpacking tonight. I set out to make dinner for us, while Cordelia had gone upstairs for something.

I was concerned about why she didn't want to share the reason for her limp. I thought maybe it might be girl problems, but what did I know? As I lit our make-shift hotplate, I heard Cordy call down to me.

"Xander, could you come up here please?"

"Be right up Cor!" I quickly blew out the flame and bent the can lids back down.

After blowing out all but one of the candles, I grabbed it and made my way upstairs to her door. It was open, but I decided to knock on the frame anyway.

"Come in."

I walked into the room, and saw her sitting next to her bed on the floor. From the flickering light of the candle next to her, I saw she was wearing her bathrobe, and had a weird look on her face.

"What's going on?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"I think I might have been shot."

I could feel a major headache coming on, but I didn't want to start yelling. "What happened?" I asked evenly.

"When we were jumping those planters in the courtyard, I felt something hit me. It wasn't really bothering me too much until I went over that park wall."

I crouched down in front of her. Obviously, it wasn't life threatening, but that didn't make it serious. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It wasn't bleeding that bad. Plus, we couldn't have done a whole lot about it until we got home anyway."

I nodded. "I can understand that." The tension in her noticeably eased when she realized I wasn't angry about it. "Which leg is it?"

"It's not in my leg." Cordelia replied flatly.

"Okay..." I paused, waiting for her to continue. Instead, she just sat there. "Do you want me to guess?"

"It's in my butt, alright?" She blurted out.

I pulled away, wanting to keep my face out of the light. I will not laugh. I will not laugh. She was obviously uncomfortable about this, and I didn't want to be an ass.

Why did I have to think _that_ word? A snicker escaped my lips.

"Is something funny?"

"No Cor." I started patting my stomach for effect. "_Gas._" I couldn't believe that was the best I could come up with.

"I'm sure." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"So," I said cautiously. "What can I do to help?"

"Are you done acting like a fool?"

"I thought that was one of my _better_ qualities."

"Really?" She asked skeptically.

There was that word again, I decided to play it safe and just nod.

"According to whom?"

"Uh, me?"

"Apparently, you've been misinformed."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I decided to kept my mouth shut.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I smiled in triumph when I realized I had him. All through school, heck, even after we got here, we were both always throwing verbal punches at each other. Now, they were more like pokes, but still, a win was a win.

"All joking aside Xander, I need your help."

"What do you need Cordy?" He asked seriously.

"I tried to get it out myself, but I just couldn't see what I was doing."

"Got it. Why don't you..."

"Lay on the bed?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay." I undid the tie on my fluffy bathrobe, and slipped it off. I could see Xander's mouth agape at the sight of me in a tiny tee and panties. I didn't think it was that big a deal though, since he'd already seen me in a bikini.

I took my time laying down on the bed. I was on my stomach, with pillows propping me up. Considering how cold it was, I really wished I was under the covers too.

"Where exactly is it?" He asked as he pulled a small table next to the bed. He placed his candle on it shortly after.

"My right butt cheek."

He hesitantly pulled the bottom of my panties up to reveal the wound. I could feel his fingers shaking whenever he touched my skin.

I hissed sharply whenever he prodded the wound.

"Sorry Cor."

"How bad is it?" I held my breath, waiting for his prognosis.

"You're lucky, it's not big at all, I really doubt it's a bullet."

I sighed in relief, not being able to see it, had made it that much worse in my mind.

"Problem is, whatever _is_ in there, I can't get to. I'm going to need the kit."

"Great." I said sarcastically.

Xander stood up and grabbed the candle from the table. "I'll be right back." He left to get the toolbox we kept the medical supplies in from the kitchen counter.

I lay there waiting for him to return. I was really hoping he could get the thing out and that it wouldn't hurt too badly. I wasn't really a squeamish person, not anymore, especially after cutting off Locust heads. Still, the thought of Xander poking at a wound in my butt with tweezers made me flinch.

I was broken from my musings as Xander re-entered the room. He set the candle and toolbox down on the table, and he opened it up and pulled several items out. I couldn't see them though, because of the poor lighting.

"What are you going to do?"

"Hopefully, pull it out with a pair of tweezers. Once that's done, I'll get some of this heal-gel stuff, whatever that is, on it. Next, a butterfly band-aid, and then finally a bandage to top it off."

"Where did you learn all that stuff?" I asked curiously.

Xander didn't look up as he spoke. "Personal experience, and working with Buffy." He laid the stuff he was going to use out on the table.

I decided to leave that comment alone. There were some things even _I_ wouldn't touch. Instead, I kept it simple. "Will it hurt?"

"Yeah," He answered honestly. "But I promise I'll be as gentle as possible."

"I trust you Xander." I told him as I tried not to shiver.

"Thanks, now try to hold still, okay?"

**=H=H=**

Ten minutes and a couple of ouches later, Xander was putting a second piece of tape across the bandage on my butt.

"Well Cor, I was half-right." He stated, as he pulled my panties back down over it.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking back at him.

"You didn't get shot, but there was a bullet in you." He leaned toward me, and held out his hand. There was a small piece of metal, about the size of a pinky nail sitting there.

"How the heck did _that_ happen?"

He shrugged. "Most likely, a bullet hit one of those planters and broke apart. A piece went flying, and your ass had a vacancy."

I glared at his choice of words, but let it go. "How long until it's healed?"

"A couple days, and you should be fine." He paused. "There might be a way to make it heal a lot quicker though."

"What's that?" I'd try just about anything to make this heal faster.

"I could kiss it and make it better." He dead-panned.

I bit off the sharp 'no' I had on my tongue. Xander had already saved my life several times before we even ended up in this God-forsaken city.

He had helped me make a home, kept me from going hungry, and dragged a huge pile of clothes home just because he knew I wanted them.

Then I thought back to this morning, what it had been like to be in his arms. I had felt warm and protected. Right then I made a decision, one that I knew would change things forever.

"If you think that'll help." I said innocently.

He stood up suddenly. "Cordy I.. I was joking. That won't really help."

That surprised me. He thought I believed him.

I couldn't help but think of all the scumbag boyfriends I'd had in the past. They'd all at some point or another, asked when I was going to 'put out' after seeing a whole lot less of me then Xander had.

Xander was a lot of things. A class clown, a fashion disaster, and a sci-fi geek. But on top of all that, he was a gentleman, that was something I was starting to really appreciate.

I turned on my side to face him. "Xander, I know you were joking." I held out my hand to him. "Come here."

He took my hand, and I pulled him closer. He crouched down until we were face to face. I stared at him intently as he stared back, confused. Xander didn't see my cut nose, bruised cheek or busted lip, all he saw was me.

This is it Cordelia, you go through with this, and there's no turning back. Can you live with all his short-comings? I thought of all the kinds of guys I had dated. The preppies, jocks, and rockers. None of them measured up to what Xander had already done.

My thinking done, I grabbed Xander by the back of the head and pulled him into a kiss. For a guy who, as far as I knew had never had a girlfriend, he was doing pretty good.

As we broke the kiss, he sat back on the floor, stunned.

"Cordy... I-" He babbled.

I gave him a smile. "Shut up dweeb, I want to cuddle."

I knew it was going to be cold, and that I should have put some layers on as I got under the blankets. But as Xander crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around me, I just didn't care.

**=H=H=**

**A/N: Locust:**

Boomer - Boomer

Grenade - Grenadier

Tank - Flame Grenadier

**=H=H=**

**END**


	10. Can't Touch Me

**Headhunters**

**zTiamaTz**

**A/N: This chapter is set up to move the story along. The normal POV's will continue in the next chapter.**

**A/N 2: All journal entries, and subsequent dialog will be Cordelia POV.**

**=H=H=**

**CAN'T TOUCH ME**

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 20~~**

_It's been four days since I kissed Xander. We've decided to take things slow, and he doesn't mind a bit. I'm not sure if I should be amazed with him, or sickened by my previous choices in boyfriends. I think I'll stick with the former, it's better for my sanity._

_My face is starting to heal up nicely. The cut is barely visible, and the bruise has turned that nasty yellow color. Xander said that just means it's going to be gone soon. The lip will still take some time, but I can deal with that. Best of all, I can sit down again!_

_I know I should be happy about it, but Xander is just as good with the sniper rifle as I am. Honestly, it's a good thing that he can shoot with it, I guess I just wanted to be better at something then him. Does that make me selfish, or just human?_

_While we were out in the city today, we heard gunfire in the distance, we couldn't tell where it came from though. I told Xander it was probably more of the Gears from Bravo Company, but he wasn't so sure. He wondered why we hadn't heard anything sooner._

_Xander's got a point, wouldn't they be happy to have some company?_

**~C~C~**

"There's no _way_ you can make that shot Xander." I said, as I watched the target through the binoculars.

He snickered. "How much you wanna bet Cor?"

This was going to be fun. "If you make it, I'll let you get to second base tonight."

Xander pulled his eye from the scope and looked at me. "I thought we were already _at_ second base?"

"Hey, you're the one that's sure you can pull it off." I told him, not bothering to look back at him.

"Fine," He said with a sigh. "What do I get if I make it?"

I grabbed his wrist and placed his right hand on my breast, before quickly pulling it away. "You get more time with these."

"I'll make it." He said in a confident voice.

Giggling, I watched as he lined up the shot. "Don't miss." I taunted.

Through the binoculars, I saw the two Drones continuing their walk down the street toward our location. These idiots fell for the fire trick every time.

"There's no way I'm gonna miss this Cor."

"Wait, what the hell is that thing doing?"

One of the Drone's had broken off, and stood facing a wall. The other stayed in the street, seemingly bored.

"He's taking a piss." Xander replied with a laugh.

I didn't want to look, but I couldn't help it. Luckily I couldn't see his 'thing'. But his pee was purple, which was just weird. "_Ew_."

"My thoughts exactly Cor. How about I take the one waiting?"

"Just shoot one of them already." I replied impatiently.

A few seconds later, the waiting Locust's chest exploded as a bullet entered his body just below the neck. I watched as his head flew straight back as his body fell backward.

"Yes!" Xander cheered.

I knew he wasn't cheering about the shot, but what he'd be getting to do tonight.

The Drone who had gone to the bathroom turned around, and looked at his now headless friend. He looked back and forth stupidly, not even realizing what had happened.

Xander tried to hide his excitement, but was failing miserably.

I smiled, knowing I won anyway.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 22~~**

_Xander came up with a great idea for the Crusher's shield. He cut a slot in the floor in front of the front door, and stuck the shield in there. Now the door won't budge if it's in place. Short of a Boomer shot, that door isn't going anywhere. Now all we need is one for the back door!_

_He's really good at building things, I wish I knew how to do stuff like that. Maybe he'll teach me some of it if I ask him?_

_We ran into a small patrol and caught them in a crossfire that cut them to pieces. Xander finished one off with his chainsaw gun. I'm going to have to ask him if I can use it one of these times._

_We've been hearing gunfire more and more often, but we can never tell exactly where it's coming from. Who's out there?_

**~C~C~**

"What the hell are you doing?" I screamed, as I watched Xander doing something that involved a hole in our floor.

"I told you a few days ago, I had a project in mind." He replied, as if that answered _all_ the questions I might have.

"What is it? How to set a broken leg when I accidentally put my foot in there?"

He grinned up at me. "You don't trust me?"

"Oh I trust that you can do a lot of things well, but cutting holes in the floor isn't one of them."

He stood up and walked across the room. He grabbed the edge of the Crusher shield, and looked over to me. "Wanna give me a hand."

With a grunt, I had the other end of the shield, and we carried it back to the front door. "This had better be good dork."

"Hold it up while I throw the switch."

I struggled to keep it up off the floor, careful not to be in the way when it expanded. The sides of the shield came out, and we eased it down into the slot.

I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge an inch. Kneeling down, I saw that the angled edge of the shield fit perfectly in the hole he had made.

As I stood up, I saw Xander standing there, arms crossed.

"So," He smiled. "Is it up to the Queen C standard?"

I threw my arms around him and gave him a big kiss. I pulled back and looked up at him. "It's beautiful."

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 24~~**

_Xander finally figured out how to use those grenades today, they're fantastic! We can stick them into walls and stuff, and just lure the Locust into killing themselves. I told him we should stick them on bodies after we take the heads. He gave me that little grin he gets when a particularly vicious way of dealing with the Locust comes up. It's becoming contagious._

_We found something weird today though. We passed through the neighborhood where we'd placed four heads along the top of a wall. We saw that someone, or something had painted a large blue, stylized '**M**' directly on top of our mark. Everything else was where we left it._

_I suggested that maybe someone was trying to contact us. Xander was angry about it though, taking it as a slight. He said whoever had done it was trying to lay claim to our kills._

_I think he's blowing it out of proportion. I really like Xander, but sometimes he goes all macho like every other guy I've dated. God, that is so annoying._

**~C~C~**

Xander stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell is that?"

"What?" I started to look around, thinking we were about to be attacked.

"Look." He said, pointing at where we had placed a group of Locust heads a few days earlier.

I saw that our red '**C-H**' mark had been sprayed over with a blue '**M**'.

"Do you think it's from more Gears?" I asked hopefully.

"If it is, I don't like them already." Xander said sourly.

"What?" I asked, confused. "Why?"

"Our mark was there to show we were the ones that put the Locust heads there. Putting that '**M**' over top of it means they're claiming it as theirs."

"Maybe they're just trying to contact us?"

"No Cor, it means they're trying to take over." He replied darkly.

As he walked toward it to get a better look, all I could do was shake my head, _men_.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 26~~**

_Yesterday, we got into another big shootout with the Locust. We killed all four of them, including another Boomer! I blew his leg clean off at the knee with one shot!_

_Before the fight we'd found three more of our marks covered. We decided to stake out our newest one this time, to see if we could catch the person in the act. After waiting six hours, we gave up and went home though._

_The first time, they were trying to get our attention, I can understand that. Four times? Whoever they are, they're asking for trouble now._

**~C~C~**

"You're turn Cor." Xander said as he came back down from the window, binoculars in hand.

I groaned as I placed the knife down on the dresser. My '**AH + CC**' atop it, was still unfinished. I hadn't even had a chance to carve the heart around it yet.

"Whoever is doing this, they're really starting to piss me off." I told him as I took the binoculars from him.

We'd killed the Locust four hours ago, and were trying to find out who was marking our stuff over. We were doing half-hour watch shifts now, trying to catch whoever was doing it.

"Think of it this way," Xander said as he ran a hand over my carving. "You're having a much better day then that Boomer, right?"

"Yeah." I had to admit seeing that Boomer fall over after his leg separated at the knee was funny. He just toppled over sideways, like a falling tree.

After taking up my position at the window and sat. Within ten minutes though, I was bored. "You think we'll actually catch them dork-head?"

"They better hope not."

I was starting to agree.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 27~~**

_Today, we went back and there was an '**M**', over the mark we had guarded for hours yesterday. Xander is getting really pissed off now, he said he felt like someone was watching us the whole time, while we were out today._

_Xander found a map of the city in a city building, and he's been marking down the areas where stuff like where our fights happened and which ones '**M**', has been at._

_He's hoping to find some kind of pattern. Who knows, maybe he will._

_I'm starting to wonder if it really is someone from Bravo Company. But if it is, why would they play games like this?_

**~C~C~**

"Find anything Cordy?" Xander called out to me from across the hall.

"I'm pretty sure it's a municipal building of some kind." I told him as I ransacked the third cookie-cutter office in a row.

"Got a locked door here."

I made my way out of the office and heard a smack, followed by a small thud. I found Xander in the hallway by a door, he was reaching through a now windowless, door and unlocking it.

As I followed him inside, I took a look at a frosted, plastic window lying on the floor. It had a faded name painted on it.

**[_Arthur G. Davidson - City Planner_]**

"This could be promising." I told him, as I made my way around the room.

"Could be." Xander started pulling open some long, thin drawers and going through them.

I stopped at the desk, and noticed a framed picture sitting there. I heard something fall as I picked it up, but ignored it for the moment. There was an older couple, with a handsome, young guy in a dress uniform.

There was obvious pride in the mans face as he stood next to him in the photo. The woman looked up at the soldier with an adoring smile, her arm around him. I wondered how long ago it was taken, was it before the Locust came?

"Bingo." Xander said, breaking the silence, and causing me to jump.

"What did you find?" I asked as I regained my composure.

"Only maps of the entire city and all the streets in it." He said proudly.

I smiled at this. Now that he was away from that asshole of a father, and the ignorant Sunnydale teachers, he was finally coming into his own.

"Good job, are we ready to move on to the next?"

Xander rolled the maps up, and stuck them in a tube he found in a cabinet. "Yeah Cor, let's go." He said, slinging the tube over his shoulder, before heading out the door.

I placed the photograph back on the desk and saw what had fallen. It was a COG tag. I picked it up and read the info around the circle.

**[Pvt. George T. Davidson - B]**  
**[_Coalition of Ordered Governments_]**

I sighed, as I gently placed the tag back on the corner of the frame. There was only one reason it would be here.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 29~~**

_Xander got shot today, grazed across his left forearm. He said he'd be fine, but that he'd probably end up with a scar. I told him I was sorry, and he simply replied 'Better me then you'. I thought it was sweet._

_We had been setting up another ambush when the Locust came out of nowhere. From where I was sitting, there was just one blind spot. Another few minutes and Xander would have been out of there._

_Xander freaked out, and is convinced that '**M**' lured the Locust in that direction. When I asked him why, he said it was because '**M**' knew we wouldn't see them coming._

_We rushed straight home, and he practically shoved through the door. He's really paranoid all of a sudden, and I'm starting to worry._

**~C~C~**

"I'm gonna make sure we didn't miss anything." Xander told me, as he got up from stuffing, or tying all the guns and ammo into our packs.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, eying the hastily made, t-shirt bandage tied around his arm.

"It's just a scratch." He replied with a smile.

That was Xander. He gets shot, but he's the one doing the reassuring.

"Okay, just make it quick so we can get out of here."

He gave a small nod, and I went back to lining up the Locust heads. Sometimes, it still surprised me how easy it had become for me to do something so nasty.

I had just finished up and was wiping the gloves off in the snow when Xander came back. He was obviously upset over something.

"We gotta go, _now_." He told me as he dragged me to my feet.

"Xander we've got to-"

"No time." He grabbed one of the packs, and slung it on, before holding the other up for me to put my arms through.

I stood there, my arms crossed. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on."

He opened his mouth several times to speak. It was almost like he wanted to say something, but didn't know how.

"Just spit it out already!"

Xander seemed to compose himself. "There's a big Locust patrol coming this way, I don't want them to be able to track us.

"Fine." I told him as I stuck my arms through the straps. "Next time, just tell me."

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 30~~**

_We decided to take a day off today. I went to take a nap, and when I woke up I couldn't find Xander anywhere. I tore the house apart looking for him before I realized he was gone._

_Four hours later, he came home dragging a door behind him with that lamp I liked so much on it. I asked him why he would risk his life for something that wouldn't even work. He just stood there and told me it was because he knew I liked it._

_I've gotten some strange presents over the years, from candy underwear, to front row tickets to see some guy named William Shatter at a Star Wars convention. But a lamp he could have died for?_

_I think he might have been hunting '**M**', and needed an excuse for why he had gone off alone. He doesn't really explain things anymore, and it drives me crazy. We finally found each other, and we're already drifting apart._

_Since when did I become too chicken to confront someone?_

**~C~C~**

"You don't like it now?"

"I love the lamp, but that's not the point!" I yelled, I couldn't understand how could he have been so dumb?

"Cordy, you're my girlfriend. I wanted to get you something nice."

"No," I glared at him. "No, you are _not_ going to use that as an excuse every time you go and do something stupid."

"I really don't see what the big deal is."

"Well, for starters... You were shot yesterday!"

He held up his arm to show the bandage over the wound. "It's _just_ skin Cor."

"We're in a city full of things that want to kill us and you're dragging a lamp that's almost as big as I am through the freaking streets!"

Xander shook his head, it was obvious he wanted no part of this.

Seeing this, I just had to ask. "Which part of what I've said do you disagree with?"

He just stood there, like it wasn't even worth answering.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 31~~**

_Xander was constantly looking over his shoulder today. Nothing I've said has calmed him down at all. He is completely convinced '**M**' is out to get us, and he's becoming too rash and aggressive._

_I'm not sure Xander even sleeps anymore. He doesn't go to bed with me, and he's awake when I get up. I've looked at his map while he's outside on the latrine, I can understand some of it, but not much._

_He knows, or thinks he knows something about what's going on, but he won't clue me in. It's starting to scare me._

**~C~C~**

Xander stopped, and turned back the way we had come, scanning the streets with his saw gun. Seeing this, I did the same.

"What is it?" I whispered, looking down the street for whatever had spooked him.

"Someone's following us." He replied with a scratchy voice.

I glanced over at him, as he continued his search. He looked haggard, which was no surprise. He was spending most nights looking over that stupid map.

I thought of pulling my sniper rifle out for a better look, but decided not to. If anyone was there, they'd see what I was doing, and take cover anyway.

"What do you want to do Xander?"

He took several more minutes, staring down the empty street. Finally, he lowered the gun. "Let's just get going Cor." He said tiredly, before continuing down the street once again.

I followed after him, wondering what I could do to make things the way they were before.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 33~~**

_We found the mother-lode! Xander and I were searching a house today, and I found a trapdoor in the floor of a back room. Xander went down there with a torch, and found a whole bunch of food and other supplies._

_He seemed relaxed for a bit, which made me even happier then finding the food. It didn't last long though, Xander started talking about laying booby traps. I finally convinced him to just grab what we could and get the rest tomorrow._

_On the way home, we heard gunfire not too far from where we were. We ran toward it, and found the aftermath four blocks from us. Seven Hoppers shot to pieces. An '**M**' painted on the side of a car nearby._

_There were boot prints all over the place, I couldn't tell if there was more then one of them or not. Xander wanted to track them, but I talked him down._

_I got him to settle for spraying over the '**M**' with our mark. It was pure spite, but it got the job done for now. I just don't know how much longer I can stop him from doing something really stupid._

_Xander is obsessed, and I don't see the sweet guy I fell for anymore..._

**~C~C~**

We were walking down the street with both of our packs full of food and water. There was enough there to easily last a week, what we had left behind would keep us full until the Gears finally arrived.

Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire started somewhere to our right. Before I could react, I was on the ground in the snow. Looking up, I saw Xander on top of me.

After a short break, the shots continued for another fifteen seconds, and then just stopped. Almost immediately, Xander was back on his feet and offering me a hand.

"Come on." He told me before heading in the direction we had heard them.

I didn't think it was such a good idea to go running off toward shooting, but I wasn't going to let him go alone either.

After four blocks, we arrived to a scene of carnage. Bodies were everywhere.

"How many do you think there were?"

"Seven." Xander replied, he was on one knee inspecting the corpses with his knife.

"_People_?" I asked incredulously, I couldn't imagine us not seeing _someone_ if there were that many running around.

He looked back at me like I'd grown a second head. "No, Skippers." Xander replied, poking one in the head for emphasis. "A single person did this."

"Oh come on dweeb, one person couldn't kill all of these things that fast."

"Didn't you hear the breaks in the shooting Cor?" He asked as he stood up and brushed off his pants.

I thought about it, there had definitely been a stop and start. "Yeah, _and_?"

"However many people you want to think were here, did they all stop to reload at the exact same time?"

Looking around at the mess, I still found it hard to believe, but Xander did have a point.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 34~~**

**[_WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP ME?_]**

**^-** _That's what we found when we went to get the rest of the supplies today. It was the same color blue that '**M**' used._

_When we got to the house, everything looked the same as we had left it. As we reached the room through the trapdoor, we found the place had been completely emptied, I wanted to cry._

_Xander just stood there, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I told him we should just go, and climbed the wooden ladder back up. As I did, I saw the message on the ceiling._

_Xander simply looked up at it, and walked out the door. Eventually, we ended up on the street where Corporal Murphy was buried, her grave was empty._

**[_I'M WATCHING YOU._]**

**^-** _We found this spray painted on the house we had stored her body in._

_There were so many tracks around there from when we buried her, and the Locust patrols in the streets, We couldn't track anything._

_What kind of weirdo digs up a dead body? Aren't the Locust bad enough?_

**~C~C~**

"Xander, what the hell is going on?" I recognized the neighborhood we were in, and wondered why we were here.

When we got to the grave, I saw that Murphy's body was gone. A large pile of dirt and snow sat to the side.

Seeing the message on the wall and the empty grave scared me. "Why are they doing this to us?"

"Somebody's pissed off she's dead." Xander said, as he stared down at the empty grave.

I couldn't help but shiver at the message left on the house. Between this, losing all those supplies, and our fading relationship, I didn't know how things could get much worse.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 36~~**

**[_YOU LEFT ME TO DIE._]**

**^-** _We found this message on a wall at the end of the street we live on. It was right around the corner from where the Gears died, this is starting to really freak me out._

_Xander is convinced '**M**' is Miranda. He hasn't said it, but it's obvious to me now. I know it isn't possible because there was no doubt she was dead. Even if we were somehow mistaken when we found her on that street, she had days to get up before we buried her._

_I tried to convince him that it was just some sick creep messing with us, but he just won't listen. I know the fact that she looked like Willow bothers him, even if he won't admit it. Guilt can do crazy things to people._

**~C~C~**

"Xander?" I asked as I stood in the doorway of the spare bedroom.

"Yeah Cor." He asked, not bothering to look up from the map he was studying.

"Why don't you take a break? We can sit down, have lunch. _Talk_."

"Not hungry, besides, I need to figure this out." He replied tiredly.

"You've been staring at that thing for over a week!"

He swung around as soon as the words left my mouth. "Do you have a better idea?" Anger radiated from him.

"Let's see," I screamed as I got in his face. "Maybe we could go out and try to hunt this guy down?"

"Where?" He threw his arms up in emphasis.

"Outside, he's got to be out there somewhere, we just need to find him!"

"Show me on the map where _he_ is and we'll go there right now."

"I don't know." I replied quietly.

**~C~C~**

**~~Cordelia's Journal - Day 38~~**

_This is getting crazy, we just got back from another hunt for '**M**' and found whoever they are had written us another message._

**[_WHY US?_]**

**^-** _This is what the sick fuck wrote on a piece of wood, and left across the Gear's graves._

_Unlike Xander, until I actually see Miranda walking around, I'm not accusing that poor woman of anything._

_Whoever '**M**' is, I hate them. Human or not, if I get my hands on them, their head is going to be sitting on the front lawn of 'this' house._

**~C~C~**

We trudged down our street to the house, I was eager to take a load off. After our argument two days ago, I'd gotten Xander to agree to track this bastard down without a map. So far, we'd come up with zilch.

"Oh my God." I stopped dead in my tracks.

Xander stopped next to me. "What?"

Across the three Gears' graves was a long board, with 'WHY US?' painted on it, in that same blue color.

At that point, I lost it. This person had been doing this to us for four days now and I'd finally had enough. "Hey! Whoever the coward is that's been leaving these messages! We're standing right here!"

Xander grabbed my arm then, trying to get me to calm down. I wasn't having any of it though, I yanked free.

"You sick freak! When I get my hands on you, you're fucking dead!" I screamed as Xander dragged me away.

**~C~C~**

**End Journal entries.**

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I woke up alone in bed, _again_. I turned to Xander's side, and it didn't even look like he'd slept in it last night. We'd been here for thirty nine days and _now_ he was breaking down.

Starting to feel defeated, I considered just staying in bed for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, my bladder strongly disagreed. Traitor.

As I got up to leave, my thoughts returned to Xander. He could still be sweet when he came out of that shell he had made, it just killed me to see him become so distant. I didn't understand what was going on in his head anymore.

After giving a quick look to see if Xander was in one of the other bedrooms, I made my way downstairs. I found him in our 'armory', big surprise. Since the whole '**M**' thing started, all he did was do stuff with the guns or brood over that map in the spare bedroom.

I stood in the doorway, watching him. He was sitting on a stool with his back to me, and it looked like he was wiping down my machine gun with a rag.

"Xander."

"Yeah?" He asked simply, he sounded like crap and looked even worse.

"Do you want me to get you something?" I asked as I entered the room, and put my arm around his shoulders. "I can't remember the last time I've seen you eat."

He turned to me, and I gave him a smile.

"I'm fine Cor, thanks anyway." He gave me a kiss on the cheek before turning back to the gun.

I pulled away from him like I'd been burned, I couldn't believe he'd just blown me off like that and realized something just then. I had tried to be sweet, patient, and understanding. Doing so, I had failed miserably.

Chase's never take failure very well. I snatched my gun from his hands, and yanked the stool out from under him.

Xander landed on his back, and glared up at me. "What the _fuck_ Cordelia?" He screamed, as he started to get back up.

I tossed my gun on the table, and put my foot down on his chest, and I used my leverage to shove him back to the ground. "We're going to have a little chat, _now_." I kept my foot there as I leaned down to face him.

"I don't have time-"

"Make time." I growled at him. "In case you forgot, I'm supposed to be your girlfriend. There's this little thing called _sharing_." I batted his hand away when he tried to remove my foot. "Couples do stuff like that."

"You don't get it."

"Then enlighten me, because I am getting sick of you either ignoring me, or giving me this cryptic bullshit."

"She's trying to destroy everything Cor."

"Who, _Miranda_?"

He looked at me in shock. I wasn't sure why he thought I wasn't smart enough to figure out his crazy idea, but I was definitely annoyed now.

"You moron, this isn't Sunnydale!" I hadn't planned on screaming at him, but I'd had enough. "That woman _did not_ come back from the dead to kill you!"

He suddenly became very serious. "Not me."

"What are you talking about?"

"There was another message."

I took a step back, I didn't like the sound of this. Xander used the opportunity to warily get back to his feet.

"What message?" I whispered.

**=H=H=**

Xander ran his hand up his forehead and through his hair, obviously agitated.

"At the place we got ambushed, and I got shot, she left a message on the wall about you."

I felt a chill run up my spine. Getting shot and killed by the Locust was one thing, but this scared the shit out of me.

"What-what did it say?" I asked, my voice suddenly trembling.

"It said 'THE BITCH IS MINE.'. It was right in the spot that the Locust came through, and the paint was still wet when I found it."

"Well, it was cold, right? Maybe it didn't dry because of the weather"

"It was fresh enough Cordy. That last skipper I killed, it's blood was _under_ the paint. She was there while we were stripping the bodies." He said grimly.

My head was spinning. "What the hell does this person want Xander?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out for the past three weeks Cor."

It suddenly hit me all at once, his actions, the attitude. He had been driving himself crazy trying to keep me safe. The old me would have taken that, and milked it for all it was worth. I was the queen of 'poor me'. Now, I was just pissed off.

"Damn you Xander!" I said getting in his face. "I'm not some fucking damsel in distress anymore!" I jammed my finger into his chest with every word.

He started to open his mouth, but I cut him off.

"Do you know how scared I was about the way you were acting? I thought you were going crazy!"

"I just didn't want to scare you Cor." He said flatly.

I glared at him. "I'm a big girl doofus. If I can take down a Boomer, I can handle a psycho. Or do you want me to just sit at home while you go running off around the city by yourself?"

"That's not what I want, I like knowing you have my back."

"Then I need you to tell me what's going on, not fall on your sword every time something bad happens."

He looked down at the floor. "You were finally doing good Cordy. You were confident, great in a fight," He blew out a loud breath. "I just didn't want you to be afraid again."

"Xander, how could I _not_ be afraid, when you're running around the city alone, acting like a lunatic?"

"I'm just proud of everything you've done since we got here. I didn't want her to ruin it."

"You know what, I am sick of arguing with you about this, go upstairs and get dressed. We are going to where that message was painted, then we are going to track down the _living_ person who wrote it, and kick their ass."

He stood there, probably trying to decide if he should continue the argument.

I decided to make the decision for him. "Shoo." I smacked him on the ass.

"Ow." He whined and headed for the stairs. The sound of my laughter followed him the whole way.

Suddenly, the urge to pee came back in force. I quickly yanked on my boots and headed out the back door. I didn't really notice the cold so much now, I was hopeful that Xander and I had finally turned a corner in our relationship.

I sat down to do my business when I saw a blue '**M**' on the inside of the sheet. I was about to scream when a hand clamped over my mouth, and an arm wrapped around my neck. After a few seconds, everything went black.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

"Hey Cor! Do we have any more clean pairs of those double-thick socks?"

When I didn't get a reply, I figured she was still kinda mad at me, or she was hiding what pairs _were_ left. I couldn't honestly blame Cordy for either reason. Sighing in resignation, I put on some regular socks and my boots.

I got downstairs, and realized she wasn't there, which sucked. I felt much better then I had in weeks, and I was glad I was wrong about Cordelia's reaction. As I got into the hallway, I noticed her boots weren't there, and figured she had gone out to the shitter.

I started getting the weapons that we'd be taking out together. I had to wait though, since I wasn't sure if Cordelia would take her assault rifle or a shotgun. She seemed to really like the kind of damage it could do.

When I had finished getting my stuff together, I realized she still wasn't back. Tired of waiting I stuck my head out the back door and called out to her.

After several tries, I realized something was wrong. Even if she was mad at me, she sure as hell wouldn't put up with me yelling at her, while she was in there.

I walked up to the sheet, and tried one more time. Getting no response, I pulled back the curtain, and found Miranda sitting there, pointing a gun at me.

**=H=H=**

**END**


	11. Have Fun Storming the Castle

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**HAVE FUN STORMING THE CASTLE**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I jumped to the side, and scrambled behind the wood pile I had made, before we had to stop using the fireplace. Seeing Miranda nude, and pointing that gun at me had really freaked me out.

I was surprised that she hadn't immediately pulled the trigger. After all she'd done, I figured she really wanted me dead. I pulled the revolver from it's holster, and aimed at our outdoor bathroom.

"Where the _fuck_ is Cordelia?" I expected her to come out shooting, but still, nothing.

I wasn't positive, but from the brief look at the gun I'd gotten, it looked like she had the same kind of pistol Cordy carried. While my rounds did more damage, she could squeeze hers off a hell of a lot faster.

"Come on bitch, make your move!" I wanted to just kill her, but I needed answers.

After getting no response at all, I crept up toward the thing, expecting to be shot at any moment. That's when I noticed a metal rod running from the back of the latrine, it was embedded in the ground at an angle.

I followed the rod, and yanked back the sheet to see the other end was impaled between her shoulder blades. I pulled down the next sheet, and found something similar had been done to her arm so that the pistol was aimed forward. That rod, was embedded in the crate.

It dawned on me just then, this whole '**M**' thing had been a smokescreen. Someone had played me, and I'd been chasing the lie for weeks. I felt like a complete asshole, some sick fuck had gotten away with Cordelia, while I was having a stand-off with a corpse.

I walked around the yard, and immediately noticed something, no drag marks. The only spot that was seriously disturbed was at the side of the house. It was probably where they had left the body to grab Cordy.

I found the impression of the rod in the snow on the ground. The snow on the fence had been knocked off in that area. I looked on the other side and saw tracks, along with another imprint of the long metal pieces. What surprised me, were the pieces of Miranda's armor sitting in a pile.

This was scary. Whoever had done this was strong enough to carry a fully-armored woman around with ease. It also meant they had no problem at all undressing a corpse, which was just _sick_.

This had been planned, they had left the poles there previously because it would have been impossible to handle both Miranda's body and them. Probably when they left the message on the Gears' graves.

Deciding I'd seen enough, I headed back inside. I grabbed the saw rifle and strapped it to my backpack, then I hung Cordy's assault rifle from a strap on my belt. Next I grabbed the shotgun, I'd be carrying that in my hands.

I tried desperately to think of where the hell Cordelia could have been taken, I was hoping I could figure it out before it was too late.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Wake up."

I shook my head as the raspy voice made me realize I wasn't in bed. I tried to remember what happened, and it came back quickly. Someone had grabbed me while I was on the toilet.

"What the hell is going on?" I tried to get up, but realized it was tied to something, it felt like a wooden table. I didn't have my pants or underwear on, but it didn't feel like anybody had _done_ anything.

I was half-numb, this guy probably carried me through town to God knows where, with my pants around my ankles. He must have cut them off of me, since I could see the tips of my boots.

As I struggled, a dimly lit bulb above me caught my attention, I was surprised for a moment, it was the first sign of power I had seen since Sunnydale.

"You're a real piece of work, making demands in your position." His voice sounded like he needed to clear his throat out with a vacuum hose.

"What do you want?" I asked the voice, as I struggled to get loose. The bindings just got tighter around my wrists and ankles.

I heard him snort at my feeble attempts to get free. "I got what I wanted babe." There was mirth in his voice.

I knew I should have been scared, but instead, I was angry. I had just finished telling Xander I could take care of myself, and I then get kidnapped immediately afterwords.

"Do you have any idea what's going to happen when my boyfriend gets here?" I forced a laugh. "He cuts the heads off of Locust for fun, what the fuck do you think he's going to do to a creep like you?"

"That idiot, the kid who's been chasing shadows for weeks now? Don't make me laugh."

Why would I want to hear him laugh? _Ew_. "He's not the one that's been hiding behind a dead woman. You're hiding right now, you coward."

"I ain't hiding behind anything." He gave a nasty laugh, before appearing at the edge of the light by my feet. "Miss me _bitch_?"

I started screaming.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I had headed out toward the neighborhood that Miranda's grave was located, the message at the house specifically said we were being watched. I figured there was a _chance_ that the person meant it literally. Right now, it was all I had.

I was two blocks away, when I heard a strange sound, like a giant bird being choked. It was quickly followed by the normal grumbling sounds of the Locust.

I ducked behind a car, sitting parallel to the sidewalk, and thought about using the grenade. Unfortunately, I was close enough to where I thought Cordy might be that I didn't want to tip her kidnapper off.

Instead, I kept the shotgun ready. The sounds continued getting closer, for some reason, they creeped me out. Regardless, I decided I wasn't going to shoot unless they found me.

As they passed by, one of the bird-sounding things must have sensed something, it took several swings at the car, making it rock violently with every hit. I could hear it's claws scraping against the metal, then, the attack suddenly stopped.

One of the Locust goons started grunting loudly at whatever it was. I waited, ready to start shooting, but they started down the street once again.

I peeked up over the trunk when they got far enough away. I saw two Drones, with a Helmet in the rear. The Drones were holding poles attached to these two huge _things_ in front of them.

They were easily as tall as a Butcher, with long, heavily muscled arms, and huge claws. They had tubes sticking out of their backs, that hung almost to the ground. It was like the Drone's were walking a pair of dogs.

I didn't have time to worry about them though, I had to find Cordelia.

After a few more minutes, I finally made it to the street, and tried to figure out which house they could be in. Other then the one we had kept Miranda's body in, none had any tracks leading to their doors. I stood there, wondering what to do now, I was at a dead end.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Not pretty enough for you?" He asked mockingly.

I stared at his face, the left side of it, along with his neck looked melted. The blond hair on the right side of his head was wild and dirty. He was huge too, at least as big as First Sergeant Rodriguez had been.

"What do you-"

"Shut up!" He slapped me across the face. "You left me out in the street for the fucking Locust!"

He came further into the light and I saw he was wearing Gear armor. It was blackened and scorched, his left arm was in a similar condition as his face.

"What are you talking about? I've never seen you before."

"Bullshit! I watched you walk by me all those times with your fucking funeral dirges!" He slammed his palms down on the table. "Too ugly for you to bother with you whore?"

I glared up at him. "I'm nobody's whore, mister _skin condition_."

This guy was absolutely crazy, I could feel his spittle hitting my legs as he continued on his rant. He pulled out a knife, and started jabbing it in my direction with every word.

Seeing this, I decided to reason with him. "I didn't have a chance to save anyone, all I was able to do was bury the four Gears we found, that's it."

"You cared more about some spic Sergeant, and a couple-a privates then you did me!" He finished his diatribe by driving the knife down into the table between my ankles.

A whimper escaped my lips. Please Xander, get here soon.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

Panic had now set in, I'd come here on a hunch, and nothing else. Now that it wasn't working out, all I could think of was Cordelia dying, or worse somewhere, wondering why I hadn't come to save her.

I had acted like a fucking idiot, letting some crazy's messages drive me over the edge. Everything Cordy and I had built was coming down, all because of some message left on an alley wall.

"The alleys." The son of a bitch must have been using the alleys to get around. That's why we'd had such a hard time tracking him, we had blindly stuck to the streets, without a second thought.

I raced down the street, deciding to start on the opposite side of the block from the grave. I turned right, around a rickety fence, and almost ran right into a group of Locust coming in the opposite direction.

We all stood there for a second, staring at each other in shock.

"_**Hominid**_" One of them rumbled, as it pointed at me stupidly.

I pulled the trigger, hoping I'd hit one of them. I worked the lever as I ran to the right, and took a shot at the fence, hoping that would do for what I had in mind. As bullets started chasing me, I dove through the damaged wood.

Even though it was rotten, I could feel it tearing at my clothes. When I hit the ground short, I realized I was stuck. My legs were still outside the fence, when I looked back, I saw Cordy's rifle was hooked on one of the boards.

I pulled as hard as I could on the strap, and finally broke free. Unfortunately, I felt a bullet hit the back of my left calf as I yanked my legs through. I scrambled toward the house, and I quickly put my back against the wall.

It had happened so fast, I wasn't sure how many there were, or if I had hit any of them. Worst of all, I'd lost any chance of stealth.

I yanked the grenade from the strap on my belt, from careful practice, I'd found how easily these things could be your best friend, or worst nightmare.

It had two settings '_G_' for grenade, and '_P_' for proximity. '_G_' made them work just like the ones from home, only they were swung from a chain. '_P_' meant I could use the spikes studded on it to embed it into a wall. Then I just had to wait for a Locust to kill himself when he got too close.

I jammed it against the corner of the house, I needed to get inside and I wanted to buy myself some time if the door was locked. Normally I'd kick it in, but that wasn't an option here.

I worked the lever again, and shot off the lock and knob on the door. Shortly after I got inside, the grenade went off, I covered my face as I felt small bits of debris hit my body. I looked over to the corner and saw a basketball-sized hole there now.

I made my way to the stairs, and took them as fast as I could. I was hoping that I'd taken out more then one of them already. Using the banister at the top for cover, I took the time to reload my shotgun.

Once I finished, I checked my leg. The metal strip in the back of the boot had done it's job, there was blood, and it obviously hurt, but I could still walk on it. Now, I waited to see what would come through the door.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

This idiot had been making accusations, and threatening me for five minutes now, the worst part, was he'd been stroking my right leg the whole time. The burned hand kept getting higher with each pass, and at that point, I figured a distraction was definitely in order.

"Just who the hell are you?" I demanded, figuring I had nothing to lose.

He stopped dead. He turned to me with a twisted smile on his lips. "I'm sorry? Didn't I introduce myself?"

I wasn't exactly enthused by that smile, but at least he'd stopped touching me. I decided to go with it. "No, you didn't."

"Well, I could have done that a month ago, but you decided to leave me in the street for the fucking horde!"

He just kept repeating this same crap over and over. "If I passed right by you all those times, why didn't you just yell?"

"Take a good look bitch!" He leaned over the table towards me. "A fucking Flame Boomer burned me!"

"How exactly is that my fault, huh _psycho_?"

I could tell he didn't like that name one bit, so I decided to press my luck.

"That's right, _psycho_. I'm going to keep calling you that, until you give me some freaking answers."

He pried the knife loose from the table and approached me. "The name is _Mongo_." He then slammed the knife down next to my head.

I flinched as the knife cut into my ear, and yanked some hair out of my head. I refused to cry though, I didn't want to give the son of a bitch any satisfaction.

"_Mongo?_" I replied with a painful laugh. "I bet you were real popular in school with _that_ name." I knew it would piss him off, but if he was assaulting me, he wasn't trying to molest me.

"Oh I see, I'm going to have to teach you about the chain of command. Just like I did with Corporal Murphy."

"What do you mean?" I wasn't sure I wanted the answer.

Mongo gave that nasty smile again. "That sterile bitch went against orders." He pantomimed a female voice. "_But Lieutenant, those Stranded might need help._"

No, that wasn't creepy at all.

There was a muffled thud somewhere outside. Almost immediately, Mongo moved away from the light.

I tried to crane my neck to keep track of where he had gone.

"It sounds like that shit-head boyfriend of yours is smarter then I thought."

"You're a fucking dead man, you know that right?" I asked him confidently.

He re-appeared out of the darkness, his hand gripped my jaw. It was the burned one, and it smelled nasty.

The stupid smile was gone. Mongo shoved my head down on the table, his face followed until we were practically nose to nose.

"If he does make it here, I'm gonna make him watch. Just like you made _me_ watch you walk away."

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I groaned at the sound of them kicking in the back door to avoid anymore potential grenades, of course, they had to go and get smart _today_ of all days.

The Locust were tearing the rooms back there apart looking for me, so I pointed the shotgun over the railing, straight down. There was a door next to the stairs, and I figured they'd be coming through it soon enough.

I heard a door being opened somewhere, I couldn't tell where they were coming from though. I was really missing Cordy's help now.

"_**Moo-ving**_" One of them announced.

A Helmet appeared from the right side, heading toward the entrance way I had come through. I fired at him, but he barely seemed to notice. As I brought another shell in, he fired back at me, the banister and railing were being chewed apart.

I quickly moved to my right to get behind a wall, I fired another shot at him when he started to reload. He didn't even bother to stop what he was doing.

"What the-" It suddenly hit me, the pellets couldn't penetrate the armor at this distance.

As more shots came in my direction, I threw the shotgun aside, and yanked my saw rifle free of the straps. I knew this thing would put him down, I just needed to wait for him to reload again.

The shooting stopped, and I peeked around the corner to fire. When I did, I saw another Locust with a grenade in his hand. I got up and started to run down the hallway, hearing the grenade bounce off the wall, and then hit the ground.

Two beeps, and the grenade exploded as I dove into the bedroom at the end of the hallway. I felt several sharp pains in my back and legs, and knew I'd been hit with shrapnel.

Groaning, I got to my feet, and I took cover against the wall next to the door. The shotgun had been destroyed when I'd had to leave it behind, so I gripped the assault rifle tightly as I heard several pairs of feet come stomping up the stairs.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"I watched for _hours_ as you Stranded fucks walked right by me!" Mongo pulled away, and started pacing back and forth.

I closed my eyes, scared now. He had made his intentions perfectly clear to me. He'd said Xander was close by, but was he even still alive?

"I am a Lieutenant for the COG you fucking traitor!"

This was going nowhere, I didn't know when, or _if_ Xander was going to show up at this point. It wasn't that I didn't think he was doing everything he could, but it was obvious something bad had happened.

"I'm not part of the COG, how can I be a traitor?" I knew I needed to keep him talking, and maybe buy some time.

He stopped his pacing and sneered at me. "You're a human, if you aren't supporting the COG, you're the enemy."

Another thud sounded from somewhere, not as loud as the last.

"Sounds like your boy still has some life in him." Mongo said with a chuckle.

"If he's close enough that we can hear a fight, that means he's coming for you." I told him with a note of satisfaction.

"That idiot thought a dead woman was out to get him." He replied dismissively.

"If you'd seen the things he had, you wouldn't think so." The longer I could keep him talking, the better.

"But here you are, he cared more about that worthless cunt then you."

"That's a lie!"

"Really?" He asked with a twisted grin. "Then why is it he visited that grave, even found a bunch of fake flowers for it. Stupid kid made it _so_ easy."

"Xander was trying to find you, that was just a place he stopped along the way."

"_Xander_?" He snorted. "I can't believe that's his real name, sounds like a pussy to me."

"He's more of a man then you are, you hid behind Corporal Murphy, even dug up her grave you sick bastard." I told him, cursing myself for giving this maniac any kind of ammo against us.

"I'm sure pussy-boy loved his surprise then."

"What surprise?" I asked, not really sure I wanted to know.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I stood, half-covered by the door frame, ready to fire at whatever showed it's ugly face. A Helmet was the first up the stairs, I stitched him from thigh to chest. He hadn't even fallen yet, when a revolver was pointed around the corner, and it fired.

I ducked back as the bullet flew past my right shoulder, barely missing me. I decided to return the favor, placing the barrel against the door frame I fired back. I wasn't sure if I'd hit anything, but it wasn't like I had much choice.

As I started to reload, I heard at least one of them rush down the hallway towards me. I tried to slam the clip in, but missed in my haste. A Mohawk cleared the door, and I dropped the clip. Deciding I didn't have time to pick it up, I swung the rifle like a bat, catching him on the back as he started to turn toward me.

I could feel the teeth of the saw tear into his unprotected shoulder as he fell to his hands and knees. I bent down to pick up the clip again, only to hear another set of footsteps approaching the room. _Fuck it_. I turned on the saw, and watched as one of those grenade guys entered the doorway.

I brought it down on his right arm, just above the elbow. Grenade quickly drop his shotgun with a howl of pain. He suddenly kicked out, catching me in the stomach, sending me flying across the room, and I hit the foot of the bed with a grunt.

I looked up at the Grenade from the floor. His right arm was hanging by a few bits of flesh and muscle, and he looked _pissed_. He stared at me, as he used his left hand to casually yank the now useless arm free.

Oh yeah, he was pissed.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"What fucking surprise?" I asked again when he didn't answer.

Mongo continued to ignore me, and walked over to what could be a desk. He stood there for several minutes before he picked something up. I couldn't really tell what it was in the dim light, and that had me worried.

"I want to introduce you to something, this is a Lancer." He held up a gun I hadn't seen before. It sort of looked like the chainsaw gun, but it had a big knife on it instead. "I killed a lot of UIR, and Locust pricks with this rifle, I've heard the COG might even bring it back."

After giving it a once-over, he placed it back on the desk, and picked up a chainsaw gun. "This is the newest version, that bayonet just couldn't pierce the Locust armor very well. But this thing'll pretty much cut through anything."

I couldn't help but shiver, where was he going with this?

Mongo came around the table to my left. "Whadaya say we test it out?" He said flatly, as he started the motor.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

Grenade started toward me, his arm still in hand. I finally remembered Cordy's rifle, hanging from my belt. Considering I'd been shot because of it, I should have remembered sooner.

I released the strap, and raised the gun to fire. Mohawk decided right then to get to his feet, still holding that revolver. I turned toward him, and managed to fire six rounds into his chest, before I was overtaken by Grenade.

He clubbed me across my left shoulder with the arm, sending my flying sideways onto the bed. In the process, I lost _another_ assault rifle. Before I could react, Grenade dropped his arm, and grabbed me by the ankle. Once again, I was airborne.

When I hit the wall, my back slammed into something, hard. I screamed in pain, as I slid to the floor, looking up, I saw I'd hit the doorknob to a closet.

Grenade was bent down, trying to pry the revolver from the Mohawk's dying hands. As I got to my feet and pulled the combat knife out, I could see he was still struggling, trying to get the gun loose with only one hand.

With a yell, I grabbed the big Locust by the shoulder and jammed the knife into his back. Quickly pulling out, I stabbed Grenade four more times, before he managed to break free.

I had definitely hurt him, just not badly enough. As he turned, I lunged in, and slammed it into his stomach. In response, he punched me in the face, leaving me once again with my back to the wall.

My head was swimming, I knew I couldn't take another shot like that. As Grenade advanced on me with a very noticeable limp, I decided I'd need a bigger knife in the future. That was if I still had one.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I started to scream as the spinning blades came down toward me, I fought against the ropes to pull as far from it as I could.

"I'd hold still, don't wanna get cut now do ya?"

The saw chewed into the table next to my arm, I quickly realized he was tracing along my body. I was using all my strength to stay away, but I was starting to waver, the ropes were cutting into my wrists and ankles.

He suddenly stopped, I was guessing Mongo had run out of table. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell because the only thing I could see besides my boobs, were my boots. He revved the chainsaw as he walked past my head, stopping when he was to my right.

He looked like he was going to start on the other side, I couldn't take it anymore, I'd had enough of his games.

"Either you tell me why you're _really_ doing this, or let me go." I demanded.

He stopped the saw and stared at me, a frown on his face.

"I'm sick of your lies, you were more interested in letting that kid get in your pants then helping a COG officer. Now you're gonna pay for your desertion."

"You're out of your freakin' mind!"

"If you had picked me up, I wouldn't have been burned by that Flame Boomer!" He screamed as he brought his fist down on my thigh, causing me to yelp.

"You _asshole_, you can't even get your story straight. Now which is it?"

Mongo glared down at me. "I was gonna take it easy on you at first." He made his way to the far end of the table, and the saw came back to life.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It's pretty clear you just want to get to the fun stuff." He replied, as he brought the rifle down, I could feel the vibrations run up and down my body, as it cut into the table between my legs.

I begged him to stop, I had never been so afraid in my life.

"You like this bitch?" He screamed at me as he continued. "This is what you get for siding with the fucking Horde!"

I could feel the table starting to wobble, as more sections were removed, I was afraid the table would collapse, and the saw would slip. My screaming stopped though, when there was the sound of a door being busted open.

Mongo turned toward the door, chainsaw at the ready.

"Xander I'm here!" I screamed, happy he had finally made it.

More lights came on in the room, blinding me. I could hear a machine running somewhere, and I wondered if that's how they got the light bulb to work.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing here?"

I finally opened my eyes again, and my heart sank when I realized it wasn't Xander. Instead, there was another Gear standing in the doorway.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I kicked out as the big Locust neared me, but it didn't even slow him. Grenade reached down, and grabbed me by the throat. Effortlessly, he picked me up, and slammed me against the wall. With just one arm, he was stronger then I was.

I was at least a foot off the ground, and even with both hands, I couldn't break his grip. He gave me a pointy-toothed grin, and I couldn't help but think how much he reminded me of Killer Croc from the Batman comics.

Those thoughts didn't last long, once I realized, I was running out of air. Since I was out of ideas, I decided to try a new tactic, I kicked him in the balls.

Grenade gave a deep groan as he let me go and held himself. I hit the floor, gasping for air, and thanking God this idiot hadn't worn more then a pair of pants. Knowing I didn't have long, I ignored my sore throat, and grabbed his ankles.

With a lot of effort, I pulled them out from under him, and watched as he slammed onto his back. Scrambling forward, I put both of my knees on his remaining arm, and started to punch him in the face. Even as I pounded on him, he was starting to get back to his feet.

Seeing that beating him wasn't going to work, I jammed both of my thumbs into his eye sockets. I shook off the weird feeling of Déjà vu I got, and pressed them as deeply as I could into his head.

Roaring in pain, Grenade threw me off of him like I was nothing. As I hit the same wall for a third time, he got back to his feet. His arm reaching out, trying to get a hold of me again. Now, it was personal.

If it weren't for the fact that I needed to find Cordy, I could have tortured this son of a bitch for hours. Instead, I simply tripped him. When he fell on his stomach, I brought my boot down on his head, after three more stomps, I heard a crunch, and I was satisfied.

After giving Mohawk a kick to make sure he was dead too, I grabbed several guns and stuffed them into a backpack, there was no time to be fancy now. Hefting the chainsaw gun, I left the room, and hoped there were no more Locust waiting for me.

I saw the Helmet that I had shot first, lying on his back. I could hear him trying desperately to continue breathing. I figured I'd give him a taste of Sunnydale, so I took one of the broken wood posts that had held up the railing, and stabbed it into his chest.

I made my way downstairs, and I knew I was hurting real bad. If Cordy and I got out of this, we were definitely taking some time off. I was really missing her right now.

After making my way out of the house, I got into the backyard without a problem. As I opened the gate to the alley, I peeked my head out to make sure there were no surprises. Seeing none, I continued my search.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"There's a big Locust fight going on down the street! Is it the Lambent?" The Gear asked fearfully, as he took a few steps into the room, holding a shotgun.

I could see he had a mop of Brown hair, and a baby face. He was smaller then Mongo, more like Hall or Sanders. I also doubted he was more then a year or two older then me.

"Help me, please!" I screamed at the young Gear.

He finally seemed to notice me and his eyes widened.

"Shut up you _traitor_." Mongo growled before giving me a hard slap on the thigh.

"Wha-What's going on here Lieutenant?" The kid stammered, blushing as he realized I was half-nude.

"He's crazy!" I brought my head up as far as I could to look at him. "Please-"

Before I could even flinch away, Mongo punched me in the jaw. With nowhere else for my head to go, the back of my skull slammed onto the table. Tiny bits of light flashed across my eyes.

"Didn't I order you to stay in the warehouse Private?" Mongo demanded.

"Yes sir. I uh... I-" The young soldier stuttered.

"You want to get ambushed and dragged off like Murphy did?"

"No..." He tried to keep his attention on the Lieutenant, but he kept glancing over at me.

"What was that Perth?" Mongo demanded.

The Private's eyes instantly snapped back to him. "No sir." He replied firmly.

"Good. There's a man heading this way to retrieve this traitor. He, and this bitch are the one's that left me to die in the street."

"That's a lie!" I cut in, not believing what I was hearing. "We never even-"

"Shut up!" Mongo screamed, as he punched me once again.

I cried out in pain and my mouth started to fill with blood.

"Stranded trash." He muttered, before turning back to the Gear. "They pretended to need First Sergeant Rodriguez's help, and then cut our men down from behind."

Tears stung my eyes as I turned towards Private Perth. "Please, help me." I whispered.

"Lieutenant Dawson, sir, shouldn't we turn them over to the COG then?" He asked hesitantly.

"Absolutely not, they won't be arriving for over a month. Are we going to waste supplies on murderers and thieves?"

"No sir. It's just... I don't think-"

"Private." Mongo interrupted, clearly unhappy.

"Y-yes sir?"

"I am not First Sergeant Rodriguez. I don't give a fuck what you think." Mongo walked over to the Private and grabbed him by the top of his chest plate. He yanked the kid forward, until they were nose to nose. "Now I want that man found and killed, are we clear?"

"Yes sir." Perth replied, obviously intimidated.

"Good." He snarled, before shoving him backwards several steps.

He looked over at me. "What about-"

"Get the fuck out of my sight!"

Perth flinched, before saluting and reluctantly headed back toward the door.

I watched as my best chance to get out of this left. He walked through the doorway and I heard a yell. Seconds later, he reappeared, doubled over.

There was a rumbling sound and then the kid started screaming. I watched in horror as a saw came plunging through his left shoulder, and down through his chest.

Blood sprayed everywhere and mercifully, the screaming finally stopped. As the young Gear fell to the floor, I saw who had killed him. Standing there in the doorway, was a blood-covered Xander.

He stared Mongo down, his saw gun was pointed at the big man. "You're '**M**'." Xander said simply as he came into the room.

**=H=H=**

**A/N: Locust:**

Leashed thing - Sire

**=H=H=**

**END**


	12. You Go Ahead, I'll Be Fine

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**YOU GO AHEAD, I'LL BE FINE**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

**(Ten minutes prior to the end of Chapter 11)**

I made my way down the alley, just _hoping_ I'd find something, since I'd already passed eight houses with no luck. There were footprints in the snow, but I didn't know for sure they weren't the Locust's at this point.

As I walked, I could feel the little pieces of shrapnel digging into the muscles of my back and legs. I didn't know how Cordy had made it all the way home with one in her butt, this shit was killing me.

The sudden sound of boots crunching in the snow came from the other end of the narrow alley. I opened a gate to my left, wondering how many fucking Locust I was going to have to kill today.

Peeking around the corner, I was surprised to see a helmet-less Gear, running down the alley. He was armed with a shotgun, and definitely in a rush. I sighed. After meeting First Sergeant Rodriguez, I had really been hoping they weren't involved in this.

I watched as he opened a gate a few houses down from me, and disappeared. After counting to thirty, I crept after him. Reaching the open gate, I saw that the back door had been left wide open.

It didn't make any goddamn sense, why go through that whole charade, just to leave themselves vulnerable now? The only thing I could think of, was the fight I'd just been in had stirred some shit up. Nearing the door, I heard voices coming from within.

"That's a lie!" Cordelia yelled. "We never even-"

"Shut up!" A nasty, male voice replied in kind.

I heard Cordy screamed in pain, and I growled as I made my way down the stairs to the basement. These cock-suckers were _dead_.

**=H=H=**

As I got closer, I was able to hear more of the conversation that wasn't being yelled. They were arguing back and forth about killing someone, probably me. It ended with the guy in charge dismissing the other one just as I reached the basement.

I was was waiting for whoever came out to take him by surprise, It was the Gear I had seen earlier that came through a door. Since he wasn't expecting me, I had the edge. I kicked him in the stomach, and it seemed to knock the wind out of him.

Before he had a chance to recover, I started the chainsaw and brought it downward into his left shoulder. Blood started spraying all over me, and I hoped he didn't have anything.

I continued down through his body and into his stomach. He finally stopped screaming, and dropped to the ground. That's when I saw a big Gear with nasty burns standing there with a rifle like mine in his hand.

To his right were a pair of bare legs clad in combat boots. The one I could see clearly was tied to a table leg. It didn't take much to figure out what had been going on.

"You're '**M**'. I accused, as I stepped into the room with my gun pointed at him.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I watched as Xander stood there with the gun pointed at Mongo. I felt a pang for the young Gear who had just been killed, but he'd left me, so that didn't last long.

I could tell he was hurt, he had a nasty bruise forming on the left side of his jaw, and he jerked a bit when he moved. His clothes were torn, and covered in blood. I really hoped he wasn't injured too badly.

"You okay girl?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of that animal.

Tears welled up in my eyes, I was so happy to see him. "Yeah Xander, I'm okay." I whispered.

"Well, aren't you the bad ass." Psycho interrupted loudly, he casually held the rifle in his hand, not even bothering to aim.

"Aren't you a dead man." Xander replied coldly. "Now drop the fucking gun."

Mongo grinned. "I like that kid, you're tough. How many Locust did you take out to get here anyway?"

"Four."

"Only four?" He exclaimed haughtily. "It took you an awful long time to kill just four of them."

Xander spit on the floor. "Didn't have my partner with me."

"You did good Xander." I told him, trying to give moral support.

"Isn't that nice." Mongo said with a laugh.

"I thought I told you to drop the gun asshole."

"I don't take orders from Stranded, especially queer ones."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked angrily.

"He's wearing girly shit under his pants!" He exclaimed, followed by a barking laugh.

I closed my eyes. Xander must have grabbed the tights I had gotten for him, probably trying to make me happy after the fight this morning. This was the result, exactly the kind of reason why he hadn't wanted to use them to begin with.

"They're for warmth you idiot, not all of us have _armor_ you know." I defended, trying to keep a shred of his dignity intact.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart."

My body jumped as Xander shot a few rounds off. Mongo wasn't screaming so he must have missed, but how?

"No more warnings." He growled.

"You think if I put a whole clip in her, she'll end up with a lead baby?"

I had a body shiver, that was really disturbing, whatever it meant.

Xander snorted. "You'd need to have an actual clip to do that."

"You fucking-"

"Like I'm too stupid to notice you just stood there, as I chainsawed your man."

I thought that was kind of weird too, so I watched him. As Mongo shifted, I saw something, hidden behind the Lancer, in his left hand.

"Xander, he's got a grenade!"

"What?" Mongo said with a snort. "The homo said it himself, you think I'd just stand here while he cut Perth in half? Give me some credit."

"The only thing I'm going to give, is _your balls_, after I cut them off you psycho!"

"Very scary." He mocked, before turning back to Xander. "Here's the deal pillow-biter. I'm-"

"No deals." I cut him off.

**=H=H=**

Mongo ignored me this time, keeping his attention on Xander. "Keep this bitch's mouth shut if you want to get out of here alive."

"How about I put a bullet in your ugly face instead?"

"I've got my thumb on the switch asshole. You shoot me, and I promise you, we all die." The Gear stated with a sick grin.

I could see Xander tense at this, he was pissed.

"You don't have the balls," Xander sneered. "If you did, you wouldn't have been playing all those bullshit games."

"I'm calling the shots here boy, you got nothin'." Mongo rasped at him.

"I might feel like trying my luck."

That twisted smile appeared on his face once again. "You know what kid, I'd believe you, if _she_ wasn't here."

"Maybe I want you dead more." He told him as he stared the big man down.

"Bullshit. You drove yourself nuts for weeks over a dead girl you never even met. There ain't no way you'll risk her." Mongo started to step toward him.

Xander pulled the Lancer tight to his shoulder, ready to shoot. I watched as Mongo hesitated, before stopping dead in his tracks.

"C'mon kid, you know I'm walking out of here, give it up."

I knew Xander wanted this bastard dead, but he wasn't going to let anything happen to me to do it.

After some hesitation, Xander came to a decision. "Drop the gun, and _get out_." He ordered.

There was a click, we all knew what that meant. One wrong move and _boom_.

"I'm leaving _with_ the Lancer, otherwise, I let go." Mongo growled.

"I'll be seeing you soon."

"Only in your dreams homo." He said with a smirk. "Try to go easy on me, I'm real delicate."

"I'll keep that in mind when your head's on a fucking stick!" I screamed at him.

Mongo gave me a wink before bolting for the door. As he cleared it, Xander turned to me.

_Go_, I mouthed to him.

Xander didn't need anymore spurring, he took off after him.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I entered the room and was about to go up the stairs, when something came clanging down the steps. I dropped to the ground, and covered my head, just as the two beeps sounded. It exploded and I was quickly engulfed in a thick cloud of gray smoke.

"Fuck!" I screamed as I got to my feet. The son of a bitch had faked us out with a goddamn smoke grenade. By the time the smoke cleared, I'd either be running into an ambush, or he'd be long gone.

Slamming my fist into a nearby cabinet, I realized he got away. As the nut-job made his escape, I went back into the other room to free Cordelia.

I could see her looking at me expectantly, I simply shook my head. I felt like an idiot for letting him fool me _again_.

A frown appeared on her face for a half-second, before disappearing again. I wished I had that kind of control.

"You okay?" I asked, finally getting a good look at the state she was in. She was naked from the waist down, and I had a sick feeling about what might have happened before I got there.

She must have realized what I was thinking. "He didn't..."

I let out a sigh of relief, it was the first good news I'd had all day.

I leaned over and gave her a kiss, careful of the large bruise that was taking over most of the right side of her face. Grabbing the knife that was embedded into the table next to Cordelia's head, I saw her flinch.

There was blood and hair on the knife. Checking her ear, I could see a small notch cut into it where the knife had been buried. I looked down at her as I started sawing into the rope on her wrist. "You sure?"

Cordy sighed. "I'll live." She told me, as I freed her wristb and I noticed she was missing a tooth. Luckily it wasn't one of the front ones, but it was still obvious.

I had wanted to kill him since he started all this shit, but seeing her beautiful smile messed up like that, just did something to me. That bastard was going to _beg_ for death when I found him.

I moved to the other side to cut the rope from her left wrist, but Cordelia stopped me.

"Give me the knife and go."

I turned to her. "What?"

"I don't want Mongo to get away, go find him, I'll catch up." She held out her hand and I gave her the knife and stuck a comm in her coat pocket.

I dropped my pack on the floor, tearing through it for spare clips to my rifle. After shoving several into my pockets, I stood up and saw she was well on her way to being free.

"I don't have any pants in here for you." I told her. At the same time, I was doing everything I could not to stare, I really didn't want to take advantage of her like that.

"I'll find something, just do me a favor, okay?"

"Yeah, anything." I could tell she was pissed.

"Get him alive."

I gave her a nod and headed back out the door. I had every intention of sticking my saw right up that sleazy prick's ass, but Cordy got first shot.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

Finally free, I swung my feet off the table, and dropped down to the floor. My legs immediately buckled, and I was suddenly laying face down on the filthy basement floor.

"Real smart Cordelia." I said to myself as I used the table to carefully pull myself back to my feet. I needed weapons, and a clean pair of pants.

Just looking at the bulging bag Xander had left me, the former wouldn't be a problem. The latter, based on my surroundings would be an issue. After waiting a few minutes for the blood to properly circulate again, I was able to get moving.

Ten minutes later, I was back in the basement, and a whole lot warmer. I'd had to go up to the second floor, which was luckily a house to find something relatively clean to wear.

The former man of the house had been a big guy, and I'd been able to layer several pairs of pants. I couldn't find a single belt though, and had ended up ripping down the cords from several sets of blinds to keep them up.

I tore through the backpack, wanting to get moving as soon as possible. Seeing all the stuff Xander had brought for me, my eyes lit up. Finding my assault rifle, I pulled it out and gave it a little kiss. I really missed my baby, and I didn't even mind the taste of the gun oil.

Since I couldn't wear the holster without a belt, I simply shoved my pistol into my coat pocket.

After slipping several clips for each into my newly acquired pants, I threw the pack on, and headed out the door. I was half-way up the stairs when I remembered it.

Turning back, I made my way back to the desk and snatched up Mongo's knife Lancer. After giving it a once-over, I tied it down to my pack and ran out of the house, eager to hunt down that animal.

When I got into the backyard, I stuck the comm in my ear. I wasn't sure which direction to go in yet. But as I went to speak, my tongue felt a gap.

Probing with my tongue, I realized that bastard had knocked out one of my teeth! It had hurt all the times he had punched me but I hadn't even realized it had happened.

I had never even had a cavity before. Mongo was _so_ dead.

**:**_Xander where are you?_**:**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I started in the direction the Gear I'd killed came from, As I hit the street, I could see clear tracks going down the street both ways. Someone had been in a real hurry.

I took my time, watching windows and doorways. I wouldn't put it past Mongo to try an ambush, like he had with the smoke grenade. He had to know we weren't going to let him walk away.

Who the fuck called themselves _Mongo_ anyways?

My search led me toward another alley, big surprise. As I neared it, gunfire started from somewhere ahead of me. I immediately threw myself against the wall to the right of the entrance, before realizing it wasn't directed at me.

Peeking around the wall, I saw some kind of fight was happening on the next street over. I crept down the length, and crouched behind a broken down car sitting inside, near the mouth with a groan.

I had to take a quick rest. There wasn't a single part of my body that didn't hurt at this point. After taking a few deep breaths, I leaned out from behind the car to see what the hell was going on.

Mongo was trading punches with a Mohawk, and I could see a Grenade and a Drone dead in the snow. He was an asshole, but he definitely knew how to kill Locust.

The big Gear finally dropped the Mohawk with a left hook. After a few seconds, the Locust tried to get back up. In the mean time, Mongo had picked up a fallen revolver by the barrel. As it struggled to it's feet, Mongo slammed the grip down on the back of it's neck.

Even from where I was, I could hear the sound of the bones breaking. _Nasty_.

**:**_Xander, where are you?_**:** Cordy's voice came across the comm.

**:**_About two blocks over Cor._**:** I whispered, quickly giving her directions. **:**_Mongo just took out three Locust like they were nothing._**:**

**:**_Three less we have to deal with_.**:** She replied evenly.

I was really surprised how well she was doing, I just hoped she wasn't going to break down when this was all over.

"You want summa this too?" Mongo screamed and started to fire.

**:**_Shit._**:** I cursed, thinking he had found me. But then I noticed that no bullets had come my way.

**:**_What's wrong Xander?_**:**

**:**_Mongo's shooting at something, it's gotta be the Locust._**:** He had picked up the Drone's assault rifle at some point, and was shooting down the street to the left of the alley.

"_**Grind!**_" A deep voice called out. A whining sound started, followed by the thunderous roar of gunfire. It completely drowned out Mongo's rifle.

I watched him dive behind a car as the bullets that were being fired destroyed everything they touched. This just got even better. Cordy wanted him alive, so I had to save his worthless ass from the Locust.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_We got some new kind of Boomer here Cor._**:**

Normally, I'd be thrilled, I loved taking them down. Right now though, I could care less.

**:**_Where's Mongo?_**:**

**:**_Pinned down behind some cars in the street. The Locust are laying down too much fire for him to make it to the other side._**:**

He quickly explained where he, Mongo, and the Locust were located. Great, the Locust were going to get to kill him before I had my turn. I couldn't let that happen.

**:**_I want to try and cut him off._**:** I told Xander as I ran in the opposite direction from where he was. I was hoping for another alley, but if I had to, I'd settle for the end of the block.

**:**_That's too risky._**:** He told me, clearly unhappy with my plan.

**:**_And dragging a lamp thirty blocks isn't? I'm not letting him get away!_**:** Seeing an alley opening, I cut left and ran down it, dodging trash and debris. I slid to a stop, and put my back to the wall. I wanted to see what was going on, but bullets were flying past the alley like crazy.

The roar of whatever kind of gun that was finally stopped. I peeked around the corner using the small scope on my machine gun, It was nothing compared to my rifle, but it was what I had.

I couldn't see Mongo, there were just too many cars. I could barely make out several Locust, and I wondered how many more there were that I _couldn't_ see.

A bullet hit the wall right above my gun, spraying me in the face with bits of stone. As I pulled away, I heard the shot.

**:**_Xander be careful! They have a sniper back there!_**:** I was really missing mine right now.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

The heavy fire finally stopped, it was followed by a strange sound, like something being vented. It was hard to tell, since shooting from smaller guns was still going on.

**:**_Xander be careful! They have a sniper back there!_**:**

Perfect, that's exactly what we needed on top of everything else.

**:**_Got it Cor. Don't worry, they don't even know I'm here._**:**

I felt kind of stupid sitting behind this car. Babysitting this jackass was _not_ what I'd had in mind. But I owed Cordy, and I could honestly use the rest.

**:**_If he's gonna make a run for it, he's going to do it now._**:**

**:**_I couldn't even see him from here, there's too many freaking cars!_**:**

"_**Grind!**_"

**:**_Dammit._**:** This Grinder thing, was starting to really piss me off.

The shooting started again, an evil, baritone laugh accompanying it. I watched as Mongo fell back and out of sight. The car he'd been using for cover was in pieces, I was surprised it hadn't blown up.

**:**_How much ammo does that thing have?_**:** Cordelia asked in annoyance.

**:**_He's moving down the street toward you!_**:**

**:**_Where? I can't see him with this tiny scope!_**:**

The grind-fire stopped, just as I was going to retort. I didn't think much of it, until all the other guns stopped as well.

The street was now dead silent, that couldn't be good...

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_Where? I can't see him with this tiny scope!_**:** I asked Xander desperately, I was _not_ going to let him get away after all he had done.

I was behind a car in the street, trying to simultaneously find Mongo's location, and keep out of the sights of that sniper. I'd moved because he already had my location in the alley pegged.

In a matter of seconds, all the Locust fire died off. It was eerie, how quiet the street had suddenly become.

**:**_They might've got him Cor._**:** He replied, sounding as disappointed as I felt.

That didn't make any sense to me though. The Locust were the kings of overkill, they would have rushed Mongo to see who got to finish him off first.

**:**_I don't know, but something is definitely wrong here._**:** I continued to scan back and forth when I caught sight of movement amongst the cars, it had to be him.

**:**_Xander he's still-_**:** I stopped when I heard this strange, gurgling growl from somewhere.

**:**_What's wrong?_**:**

**:**_There's something growling, but I can't tell where it's coming from._**:** I had to stay low to keep out of sight from the sniper, so my view was limited.

**:**_Cordy, you need to get out of there. I can hear the Locust heading in your direction._**:**

**:**I'm going back through the alley,**:** I told him as the growling sounds got a lot closer. **:**_I'll meet you back on the next block._**:**

I needed to get out of there, right now.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

With the gunfire stopped, I could hear boots, lots of them. They were pounding down the street toward Mongo. I was pissed, what had started out as some simple payback, had turned into a giant cluster-fuck.

**:**_There's something growling, but I can't tell where it's coming from._**:** She told me, a note of worry in her voice.

I was pretty sure the Locust were trying to close in both ends of the street. That would explain why they stopped shooting, they didn't want to hit their own guys. I was kinda surprised they even cared though.

**:**_Cordy, you need to get out of there. I can hear the Locust heading in your direction._**:** I started walking backwards as fast as I could, Lancer ready. I wasn't turning my back until I was clear.

**:**_I'm going back through the alley,_**:** She was freaked by whatever it was she heard. **:**_I'll meet you back on the next block._**:**

**:**_Got it Cor, see you soon._**:** I watched as a couple of Locust ran right by the alley without even noticing me. The sound of an assault rifle firing started, I was guessing Mongo was _fucked_.

A Mohawk running by happened to glance into the alley, and just like that I was caught. I put a dozen rounds in his chest. As he fell, more Locust appeared, alerted by his death scream.

Ducking behind a dumpster, I saw I'd still have to clear another twenty feet before I could escape this deathtrap. Bullets were screaming by my hiding place, keeping me pinned.

Desperate times as they were, I went to an old trick. I gave the dumpster a yank, but this one didn't budge, too much snow. Wanting to buy some time, I aimed the Lancer around the side of the dumpster, and shot off the rest of the clip. I heard screaming, but I wasn't sure if I'd actually killed any of them.

Looking around for anything else, I saw a door on the opposite wall of the alley about five feet away. Problem was, I had to dodge bullets to get to it. I slapped in a new clip, and decided I'd have to shoot my way to it, and hope for the best.

Once again, all the gunfire suddenly stopped. I quickly jerked my head toward the far end of the alley, it was empty. So what the hell was going on?

A loud hissing sound filled the alley. It would start and stop for different lengths of time. I peeked around the dumpster and saw the very large reason they had stopped.

**:**_Oh fuck._**:**

Coming down the alley was a huge Locust with a flamethrower. It took up most of the alley, and was setting everything in sight on fire.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

Taking a deep breath, I counted to five and ran from behind the car and into the alley. The Sniper's bullet hit the corner of the stone, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I was out of is sights.

With my back to the wall, I finally saw what was making the growling sounds. These two huge _things_ were weaving their way between the rusted cars at top speed.

They were absolutely hideous, making the average Locust look supermodel-ish. Both stood about eight feet tall, most of it was a nasty hump which was a foot over their heads. Their very human-looking heads stuck straight out from their chests. _Ugh_.

I decided I'd seen enough, and made a run for it. I had gone about ten feet when there a big crash behind me. Looking over my shoulder, and I saw one of the things had slid into several garbage cans at the mouth of the alley.

As it picked itself up, the second one skidded to a stop next to it, barely avoiding slamming into his friend.

**:**_Oh fuck._**:** Xander voice came over the comm, startling me.

Not paying attention, my foot hit something under the snow, and I found myself on the ground. Looking at my feet, I saw I'd tripped over an old, wooden board.

One of the things let out a screechy growl that caught my attention. They stared at me for a second before they both charged, arms straight out toward me.

I hefted my assault rifle, and started shooting.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I started to aim for the Flamer, but stopped. Remembering what happened when Cordy took out that smaller one with the sniper rifle, I didn't know if I'd get caught in the explosion.

That flamethrower didn't have a long range, I wanted to make a run for it down the alley, but I was afraid the Locust in back would start shooting before I could make it.

I eyed the door, I had to make a decision now, before that bastard got close enough to fry me. The Locust were grunting about something loudly, but who knew what they were saying?

As I jumped out from behind the dumpster, I saw the Flamer just standing around burning stuff. A Grenade seemed to be shoving it toward the dumpster, I guessed it was getting chewed out for not doing it's job.

"_**Ground walker!**_"

Shit. One of them had noticed me.

I grabbed the handle and twisted, nothing happened. I yanked on it, but it didn't budge. The Flamer was aiming the thrower at me, when I tried twisting it counter-clockwise, it finally opened.

I threw the door open and got in just as a flame shot past. I couldn't believe I'd almost been killed, because some idiot didn't know how to install a doorknob properly.

Turning to close it, I saw a Drone trying to shove his way in. As I tried to slam the door shut, he stuck his arm and assault rifle in the door to block it.

When I put my full body weight behind the door, he cried out, and pulled the trigger. I was hoping for at least a broken wrist as the gun wildly sprayed the hallway I was in.

I slashed at his wrist with the blades of my rifle, since I didn't have the leverage to turn it on. After several cuts, he finally yanked his hand back out the door, leaving the gun behind.

Continuing to hold the door shut with my body, I quickly locked it. The thump against the door let me know he didn't appreciate my lack of hospitality. Fuck 'em.

Looking for something to block the door, I saw I was in a bare hallway. From the numbers on the doors, I figured it was probably a hotel. This must have been a fire door or something.

After snatching up the dropped assault rifle, I took off at a run, wanting to get out of the building as quickly as possible. That door wouldn't hold very long, plus, they'd be trying to cut me off at another entrance.

If Cordelia was already in the street, they'd could run right into each other shortly.

**:**_Cordy, where are you?_**:**

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I used the entire clip to take down the one in the lead, causing it to fall face first, just short of me. With the second on it's way, I crab-walked backwards, trying to get some breathing room.

It got it's foot tangled in the first one's legs, as I grabbed the pistol from my jacket. Aiming for it's massive torso, I shot it eight times as it came at me.

I wasn't so lucky this time though, the thing half-landed on me, part of it's body, along with it's thick left arm and legs ended up across my legs and chest. As I started to push it off, I saw how close I'd come to having those large claws dig into me.

Suddenly, I heard more growling. How many of these things were there?

**:**_Cordy, where are you?_**:**

**:**_I'm trapped in this alley, underneath a freaking Locust!_**:** I exclaimed, as I tried to shove the thing off of me.

**:**_I've got a shit-load of them on my ass. I'll be coming your way as soon as I can._**:**

**:**_Be careful Xander._**:** I told him, not sure what else to say. With a lot of effort, I managed to shove the upper part of the body off of me at least.

**:**_You too beautiful._**:** He replied sincerely.

**:**_Yeah right._**:** Not with the workout my face got today, but I'd take it for what it was.

Hearing the growl again, I saw the first one I'd shot, trying to get back to it's feet. I'd put seventeen rounds into the fucking thing, what the hell?

I was trying for the thing's head, but it kept moving around, I knew I only had four bullets to put it down for good. It got up, turning back and forth, the tubes hanging from it's back swinging wildly, messing up my aim.

Fed up, I decided to get it over with, one way, or the other. "I'm over here stupid!"

**:**_Huh?_**:** Xander asked, confused.

The thing turned to face me, letting out a loud screech when it saw me. I guessed getting shot that many times would piss off just about anything.

**:**_Not you dork._**:** I told him, as I gripped the pistol tightly with both hands.

The claw thing started toward me and I fired, catching it in the side of the face, and stopping it in it's tracks. It's already labored breathing sounded even grosser with half of it's jaw gone.

It stood there, trying to make it's now ruined jaw to work to no avail. I just needed it to turn it's head toward me again, but it was currently ignoring me. Finally, I did a little whistle and the Claw turned to see what it was.

I pulled the trigger and the bullet hit it right in the bridge of the nose. It staggered back a step, before falling over dead.

I lay back in the snow, catching my breath, I was so glad Xander had the patience to teach me how to shoot properly. After taking a minute to rest, I noticed my legs were falling asleep from the weight of the Claw. I figured now was a good time to get moving.

As I sat up, the Claw started to twitch. Remembering what I went through with the first one, I stretched as far as I could and put the pistol to it's temple.

It began moving so I pulled the trigger. Since I only had one more round in the clip anyway, I put another in it's head for good measure.

Feeling safe, at least for the moment, I managed to slide out from underneath the thing. Standing up, I replaced both the clips for the guns, and brushing all of the snow off of me.

Wary I might be meeting up with more Locust shortly, I carefully made my way out of the alley and into the street. I decided it was time to save Xander for a change.

**=H=H=**

**A/N: Locust**

Grinder - Grinder

Flamer - Flame Boomer

**=H=H=**

**END**


	13. Mind the Gap

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**MIND THE GAP**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

As I turned a corner, hoping I was heading for the front of the building, I could hear the fire door being shot to pieces, and broken down. My best chance, was that most of them were too dumb to try another entrance.

With my way out in sight, I saw a big problem. It looked like someone had tried to blockade the entrance, there was a ton of crap piled up against the three sets of doors.

Reaching the mass, I started pulling the larger pieces of furniture out of the way. Desks, chairs, bookcases. Random items were thrown in too, probably out of panic. Dead potted plants, telephones... A rubber ducky?

I shoved it into my pocket, as I got to the heavy wooden doors, but they wouldn't budge. I could hear the Locust coming down the hallway I had started in. I figured one of the big ones must be in the lead, otherwise they'd be here already.

There wasn't a knob for me to shoot off, simply a push-pull handle with a lock. I brought the saw to life and started to cut around the door handle, hoping I could get through it in time. I figured I should let Cordelia know what was going on in the mean time.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_Cordy, I've got to cut through the front doors of this place. I'll be there ASAP, promise._**:** Xander's frantic voice came over the line.

I wasn't sure whether he was more worried about his situation, or the one he thought I was still in.

**:**_I'm already free,_**:** I could practically hear him sigh in relief. **:**_I'm coming up the street now._**:**

**:**_I'm stuck in the hotel, be careful! Some of them are bound to be smart enough to try and cut me off!_**:**

**:**_Got it. As soon as you get out, head to the left, and run. I'm half a block away._**:** I told him, as I set up behind what had to have been a hot dog cart.

I looked through the scope on the assault rifle. From this distance, it was actually usable. Thirty seconds later a huge Locust came lumbering around the corner. It had one of those strange looking guns that shot fire out of it, those things scared the hell out of me.

**:**_Xander, one of those flamethrower guys is outside the door._**:** I wanted to shoot it, but I didn't want the explosion to hurt Xander.

**:**_Try going for it's knees!_**:**

It was as good an idea as any, that way I didn't have to worry about hitting that big tank on it's back.

I thumbed the switch to single shot. Looking through the scope, I could see the thing about to go up the short steps, which would completely cut Xander off. Lining up the Flamer's left knee with the too-tiny cross hairs, I fired.

The bullet hit to the right, barely grazing it's knee. "Shit." This thing definitely did not shoot like my sniper.

"**_Burrrrrn._**" The big Locust growled, as it turned toward me, a flame shooting out from his gun.

It's fire wasn't even close, if I could lure it away from Xander, he'd have a much better shot at getting out.

As I aimed at it again, I could see another Locust coming up behind him. It was a Grenade, and that's what he was swinging, trying to take me out.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

"**_UHHhhh-AHHHHhhhhhh!_**" A loud cry echoed off the lobby walls, I was guessing it was Locust for 'Charge!' or 'Where's the potty?', I wasn't sure which.

**:**_Try going for it's knees._**:** I told her, it wasn't like I had a better idea.

"**_Grind!_**"

I instantly dropped face-down to the ground, after hearing the familiar voice. The whine started, and before long, a huge amount of lead was cutting every piece of furniture I'd pushed aside in half.

It was creating a hole in the door though, if the Grinder kept it up, and I didn't die painfully, I'd have my way out.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I was about to run out of the grenades range, when one of the sets of doors to the hotel Xander was in, practically exploded outward.

**:**_Xander!_**:** I screamed, afraid he'd been killed.

I could barely hear the sound of the big gun from earlier, shooting at Xander. The Grenade, who was standing right in front of the door was torn apart. Shortly after, there was an explosion, followed by a bigger one. Seconds later, it crescendo-ed into a huge fireball.

So surprised by it, I got hit with several pieces of shrapnel before I could even think to duck behind the cart.

**:**_Xander, answer me dammit!_**:** I screamed as I pulled a piece of metal out of my forehead. I could already picture him with those damn tweezers again.

**:**_What the fuck was that?_**:**

**:**_A Locust was about to throw a grenade when it got shot through the door. It blew up the Flamer too._**:**

**:**_Nice, I'm just waiting for this Grinder to shoot a big enough hole in the door, and hope the others don't rush me. Then, I'll be right out._**:**

I shook my head in disbelief. That plan _definitely_ sounded like it would go off without a hitch.

**:**_Just get your butt out here loser!_**:** I exclaimed, afraid of what would come around the corner next.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I was still shaken from the fireball that had blasted through the hole in the door. My hair was a bit singed, but otherwise I was okay.

Keeping my face to the floor, I slammed my hands against the bottom of the door. The heavy fire suddenly stopped, and the venting sound started again, I figured it was so that huge gun wouldn't overheat.

**:**_Cor, I'm trapped in here._**:**

The sound of boot steps let me know I was running out of time, the other Locust advancing toward me.

**:**_On my way._**:** Cordelia tried to say calmly. **:**_We need to move Xander, they're going to be all over us._**:**

What was left of the cover blocked my view of them, so I simply held up the Lancer and sprayed the entire room.

They started shooting back, bullets were hitting the ground in between the furniture that was still standing. I didn't know if it would be enough.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_We need to move Xander, they're going to be all over us._**:** I told him, as I got up from behind the hot dog cart, and ran toward the hotel.

I kept the assault rifle ready, in case something else decided to come round the corner. I was hoping their friends going boom would make them think twice, at least for a little while.

As I neared the building, I was hit in the face by the awful smell of the burnt Locust corpses. On top of that, I could hear shooting from inside, but I didn't know who was doing it.

**:**_Where the hell are you?_**:** I asked, standing to the side of the doors. While I could see the center doors were almost cut in half, the other sets looked like swiss cheese.

**:**_Just look for the door with the big hole in it!_**:**

**:**_I can't get to you without being shot!_**:** I watched as he tried to smash open the bottom of the door, but it just would not budge.

"**_Grind!_**" A muffled voice cried from inside.

The big gun started firing again, I really hated that thing.

Suddenly, I saw movement at the corner of the building. I took cover behind a nearby drop-mailbox.

**:**_Xander, hurry up!_**:** I called to warn him as I aimed at whatever was about to come around the corner.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

**:**_Xander, hurry up!_**:** Cordelia screamed, she was close enough now that I could hear her through the hole in the door.

I was now on my back, kicking at the door. It wouldn't be so bad, if I didn't have to worry about having my kneecaps shot off.

After slapping in another clip I held it over my head, and fired. I realized I was getting way too low on ammo.

**:**_Cordy shoot the hinge on the side of the left door!_**:** I decided it must have some kind of locking mechanism, there was no other reason for the door not to open now.

**:**_I don't want to shoot you by mistake!_**:**

**:**_Just fucking do it!_**:** I didn't want to curse at her, but I was running out of time.

Thirty seconds later, three shots hit the area and I put my boots to it. With a hard shove, the door finally gave.

**:**_I'm coming out now Cor._**:** I emptied one last clip over the ruined bookcase and started to crawl out.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_Just fucking do it!_**:** Xander's aggravated voice came over the comm.

A Drone peeked around the corner, gun ready to fire. Too bad for him, I already had him lined up. Seven shots... Chest, throat, face, _dead_.

With the Locust bleeding out in the snow, I did what Xander wanted. I aimed for the tarnished brass hinge on the left door and squeezed off three shots. Without even looking to see if it worked, I turned and aimed back at the alley.

**:**_I'm coming out now Cor._**:** He replied shortly after, as the Grinder stopped shooting again.

I would have been relieved, except I knew there were probably more in that alley.

**:**_Those things are going to pour out of that alley any second._**:** I told him sourly.

I saw a helmet of some kind peek out from the same spot. I put two rounds against the wall in front of it and it pulled back.

**:**_Move it Xander!_**:** I glanced over, and saw he was coming out feet first, from his belly up was still inside.

"**_Uh-tak!_**" A scream came from behind me.

I turned and saw several Locust spilling into the street from the left, probably from the alley I'd come out of earlier. Out of options, I took the other side of the mailbox, and hoped for the best.

**:**_Dammit Xander, we're out of time!_**:** I flicked the switch back to auto and opened fire.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

**:**_Move it Xander!_**:**

I ignored her as I gritted my teeth and wriggled out of the hole, trying desperately to stay as low as possible.

The only things I had going for me were the fact that the Grinder was too stupid to aim low, and the Grenade guy had gone through the alley.

"**_Grind!_**" The fire started up again.

They were definitely better then Boomer's though, at least _they_ knew how to aim.

**:**_Dammit Xander, we're out of time!_**:** Cordy's voice was suddenly frantic.

Now that I could reach it, I used the bottom of the other door to help pull me out more easily. Within twenty seconds, I was finally free.

"Cordy, I'm out!" Looking to my left, I could see her on one knee, next to a mailbox. She was shooting at something down the street.

"Get over here then, you dweeb!" She replied, not bothering to turn around.

I rolled over to her as quickly as I could. Every movement was pain to my beaten body. As I cleared the doors, my last roll brought my face into contact with with Cordelia's ass.

If only, I thought to myself as I got to one knee as well, only facing the other direction. "How are we doing Cor?"

"Oh I don't know Xander, lets see... They're coming out of the alley _you_ were in. They're coming out of the alley _I_ was in." She stopped to reload before continuing. "And any second now, they're going to break down those freaking doors. Any _other_ stupid questions?"

I didn't have time to come up with any, since a Mohawk in the alley was getting ready to take my head off.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I heard Xander shooting at something, probably in the alley I'd had to turn my back on. I was worried, because he didn't have any cover to hide behind.

"I think it's time to get out of here!" I had to scream to be heard over our combined gunfire.

"Which way are we heading?" Xander asked.

"Back the way we came, it's the only place they haven't come from yet!"

"Fine. Get ready to go!"

"But-" I was almost out of ammo, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to cover him.

"Cordelia, just go!" He ordered stubbornly.

Knowing he wasn't going to budge, I took off for a parked car across the street. It would give us at least partial cover, before we could make it to the alley entrance we had come through earlier.

After reaching the car, I took stock of the situation. There were at least fifteen cars between me, and the Locust that I'd been firing at to the right. I didn't think they'd noticed I'd moved yet.

The doors Xander had crawled through were literally falling apart, the Locust inside would be in the street any time now.

To the left was the alley that Xander had been in, he was shooting at the far side of the entrance, trying to keep them at bay. From where I was, I could see at least one of the bastards hiding against the wall.

**:**_Xander go!_**:** I watched as he cut to my right, trying to stay out of my line of fire.

I shoved the snow from the hood of the car, leaning against it, I looked through the small scope. I aimed for the red eye of a Helmet that had come partially out of the alley. He was trying to shoot my now-retreating boyfriend in the back.

I let off four rounds, the first two hit him in the face, but the others missed as he was knocked to the ground, hopefully dead.

Xander slid across the trunk of the car, and landed next to me, almost falling on his butt behind cover. After recovering with as much dignity as he could, he switched clips in his Lancer.

I let out a giggle at the classic Xander move. I definitely needed it, I still couldn't believe he'd made it out of that hotel.

Just then, the sound of wood snapping and breaking came from the hotel. Peeking over the hood, I watched the Grinder push his way through the door he'd shot apart.

Once he was out, he stood there, looking back and forth stupidly. Shortly after, arms appeared behind him and he was shoved forward.

The fat Locust had been blocking the others from getting out, what an idiot.

**=H=H=**

We kept low as we moved to the right toward the alley that would hopefully get us out of here. I looked down the length and it seemed clear, but I wasn't happy with it at all.

Unlike the one I'd been in earlier, it was narrow, and lined on both sides with high fences and no cover. If we got caught in there, we'd really be in trouble.

"Take it slow Cordy." Xander whispered to me as he kept an eye out for any Locust behind us. The ones that were still alive didn't seem to realize that we had slipped down this alley, and we both wanted to keep it that way.

I reached the end of the alley, and peeked my head out. After seeing that the street was clear, I waved Xander forward.

"We good?"

"Yeah, I don't see any of them around." I replied, looking back down the alley and saw we weren't being followed.

We went out into the street, and I crouched behind some cars so we hopefully, couldn't be seen. My nerves were shot, I was half-expecting the Locust to come tearing down that alley any moment.

I looked up at the sky, and realized it was starting to get dark. I couldn't believe we'd been doing this all day long. Then I noticed Xander was _standing_ next to me, it looked like he was keeping watch.

I grabbed his hand and he looked down at me. "Sit." I ordered.

He did so with a grunt, I wondered just what he'd gone through to save me today.

"Are you alright?" I asked, as I sat down next to him, worried. While Mongo had smacked me around some, Xander looked like he'd gone through hell.

"I'm okay Cor." He said, before gently putting his arm around my shoulders. "Listen, I want to go back to that house you were in."

I was betting he wasn't sure how I'd react to his suggestion. If I didn't already know how badly we needed the things inside, I'd probably be annoyed with him.

He sighed. "I'm down to a clip or two and-"

"We need the ammo." I interrupted. "Plus, you want to check out that generator thing, right?"

"Yeah," Xander got to his feet, using one of the cars for leverage. He held out his hand and helped me up. "Lets just get this over with."

As we headed toward that house, I couldn't agree more.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

We carefully made our way through the snow, and I finally got a good look at the rifle on her back. The bayonet on the thing was sick, I'd have to ask her about it later.

As we reached the end of the next alley, we heard heavy steps crunching through the snow in the street. We ducked into a yard, and waited for the patrol to pass.

"Where are they all coming from?" Cordy whispered to me.

"It's got to be because of that fight I had earlier."

She nodded. "That makes sense, we always hide or get out of there in a hurry."

I gave her a nod, as we waited for the Locust footsteps to fade out. Afterwords, we slowly got to our feet, both of us looking forward to some much needed rest.

**=H=H=**

After dodging the Locust patrol, we made quick time getting to the house of horrors. I was kinda worried the large group of them we'd run into earlier were on their way here.

"We gotta make this quick Cor, we grab whatever we can and get out."

As we reached the steps to the still open rear door, she stopped me. "I'm going to wait out here and keep watch."

"Got it, I promise I'll make it quick." I didn't blame her, if I'd been through what she had, I wouldn't want to go back in there either.

When I made my way down the stairs, the first thing I noticed was the smell. The Gear I had chainsawed almost in half lay there, I must have cut into his intestines in the process.

**:**_This chainsaw made a helluva mess._**:** I muttered as I stepped over the body.

**:**_Xander, I don't want the Locust to drag him away._**:**

**:**_I'll get his head, don't worry._**:** I looked around the room, trying to decide where I should start.

**:**_No, I want to bury his body._**:**

I couldn't believe I was hearing this. **:**_I don't have time for this crap Cor._**:**

**:**_Just hide him somewhere, he was scared to death of that guy._**:** She insisted.

**:**_Fine._**:** I told her and looked down at the body. No matter how I did this, it was going to be a fucking bloodbath. Looking around the room for somewhere to stick the body, I saw another door. Opening it, I realized it was a closet, good enough.

I started yanking out anything on the floor into the room. Pretty soon I had an empty closet and a pile of shit around me. I grabbed the corpse by both his arms and tried to hold him together, as I dragged him toward his temporary tomb.

**:**_Did you find a place to put him?_**:**

**:**_Yeah Cor._**:** I managed to jam the body into the closet. As it hit the ground, it was like I had cracked open an egg, his insides just spilled out across the floor. I gagged at the smell and quickly shut the door

**:**_How's it looking outside?_**:** I asked, trying to get the image out of my head.

**:**_Clear so far._**:** She replied tiredly. **:**_I just don't know how long it's going to last though._**:**

As I started rifling through the room, I could tell she wanted away from here bad. Unfortunately, most of the stuff looked to be from the previous owner, like Mongo had just shoved it aside for whatever he had brought.

I came to a desk with a pistol on it, and what looked to be parts of different guns scattered around the top. The scary part, it looked like he'd been making some bombs too. There were also a few textbooks sitting there, one was open.

Reading the page, I realized it was some kind of manual for fixing different guns. Flipping it closed, I read the cover.

**[_Gear and Locust Arms/Armor Guide: Repair and Modification_]**

Setting it aside, I quickly checked out the other two.

**[_Gear Technical Guide: Standard Issue Electronics Repair_]**  
**[_Gear Survival Guide: SERE - Basics on the Run_]**

**:**_Jackpot._**:** These things could make our lives _a lot_ easier.

**:**_What did you find?_**:** Cordelia perked up.

**:**_Stuff that's gonna help us out big time Cor._**:** I looked around trying to find some kind of bag to stuff these things in. **:**_I'll explain when I get outside with you._**:**

Finally finding a small gym bag in a drawer, I shoved the books, pistol and the gun parts on the desk into the bag. I avoided the bomb stuff, not wanting to take any chances. That done, I looked to see what else I could find.

Opening a cabinet, I found different sized black boxes with blue rectangles on them. They were the same style as the Gear armor. Opening one, there was a label on the inside of the lid.

**[_Gnasher Ammunition - 32 Slugs_]**

Taking one out, I saw they were for the shotgun. Gnasher? Weird name. I'd have to figure out what the slugs would do later. I started opening all the boxes up and dumping them into the bag.

**:**_Xander, what the hell is taking so long?_**:**

**:**_Found a bunch of ammo for the shotgun and other stuff._**:** I told her, as I went over to get a good look at the generator.

**:**_You found Perth's gun?_**:**

**:**_Who?_**:** I asked confused, and then it hit me. **:**_Right, I forgot all about it._**:** I got up and started to search around the floor and under stuff for it. As I did, I got a good look at the generator, the thing wasn't that big, but it was going to be a pain in the ass to move.

**:**_Cor, we're not gonna be able to move this generator today, not with all the Locust running around._**:**

**:**_Whatever you can do, do it fast Xander. I can see a Butcher coming down the alley right now._**:**

**:**_Shit,_**:** Since it had taken them so long to show up, I thought we'd be in the clear. **:**_Left or right side of the alley?_**:**

**:**_Left side, why?_**:**

**:**_The house at the left end of the block is where I fought the Locust. They must have got all the bodies there, and are coming this way to finish the job._**:**

**:**_I'm going to wait until he's in the house before I kill him._**:**

What the hell was she thinking? **:**_That's-_**:**

**:**_A good idea._**:** She cut in. **:**_It'll help muffle the noise of the shots._**:**

I couldn't fault her logic, plus it would give me extra time to at least _try_ and camouflage the generator. I grabbed random stuff off the floor to pile on top of, and around it. The rest went in front of the closet door. In the process, I found the Gnasher under a cabinet.

After checking to see it was loaded, I tied the Lancer to the gym bag, and slung it across my shoulder. All I could do was hope what I'd done would be enough. **:**_Cordy, how are we looking?_**:**

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_One's almost here, a second Butcher's on his way, same direction._**:**

**:**_I'm on my way up now, why don't you shut the door and we'll go out the front._**:**

"**_Hun-ger._**"

I heard Xander enter the kitchen behind me. "Too late for that."

"**_Hun-ger._**" The second one echoed in kind.

"You wanna take them out, or just make a run for it Cor?"

I had to think about it, was saving the body of the Gear worth it? Considering the condition we were in, no. "Let's just get out of here."

"**_Hun-ger._**"

The first Butcher passed through the gate and I saw it was dragging a body behind it. I got a better look and saw it was a Helmet with a piece of wood sticking out of it's chest.

I snickered, as I stood up and turned to Xander. "You staked it?"

"Yeah, I figured I'd do it the old-fashioned way for a change." He replied seriously.

I had to wonder how bad it had gotten in that house, that he had the chance to stake a Locust. I'd ask him when things settled down.

We turned and headed for the front door, leaving the Butcher to try and drag the body up the steps. Thank God all the 'Boomer type' guys were so stupid.

With the front door shut and locked behind us, we looked up and down the now quiet street. He wrapped his arm around me as we stood there catching our breaths.

I snuggled into his side and just enjoyed the feeling. I knew it wouldn't last, at least for now. "Are we heading back to the house?"

"Not tonight, it's gonna be too dark to even see soon." He pulled back and turned to me. "Remember that house with the trap door you found?"

"Yes." I hated being reminded of that, we'd lost all that stuff...

"It's only a couple of blocks away, we won't have to worry about the light if we're there."

We headed toward the house, hoping to get some much needed sleep. While I was looking forward to the rest, I still had a lot of nagging thoughts. I just hoped I could put them aside for the time being.

**=H=H=**

I watched as Xander closed the trapdoor, and slowly made his way down the ladder. The opening was too small to fit a mattress down there, so we'd gathered a bunch of blankets instead. It would have to do for the night.

"When we get back to the house, we are _definitely_ taking a week off." Xander told me as he knelt down to untie his boots.

After he pulled them off, and crawled in next to me, I couldn't help but ask... "Do you think he's still alive?"

"I doubt it, most of the Locust were after him."

"What if he goes to the house?"

"He's probably hurting as bad as we are, and like I said, that's _if_ he's even still alive."

I sat up, I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but I didn't believe it. "You want to take a week off, how are we supposed to relax in the house with him running around?"

"I don't think he's-"

If it weren't for the fact that I knew how much he was hurting, I'd smack him. "Xander, he _knows_ where we live. What stops him from burning the house down with us in it?"

He rubbed his eyes as he tried to get comfortable in the mass of blankets. "I know Cor, I don't like it either..."

"So let's do something about it. Let's find that bastard."

Xander sighed loudly. "We're in no shape to do that Cor."

"I'm telling you right now, I'm going to find him. With or without you." I couldn't let it go, not after what he'd done to us or what he could do in the future. I wasn't going to be afraid to live in my own freaking house.

"Fine, let's get some sleep, and we'll look for him in the morning." He said simply.

After blowing out the candle, I laid back next to Xander, I felt a really bad about pushing him. I didn't want to do it, but how could we ever feel safe with that creep still running around? When this was over, we had to find a way to make things right between us.

**=H=H=**

**{{Mongo POV}}**

"Fuck." I grunted as I jammed a ripped sheet into the bloody hole in my armor. There was a fifty caliber bullet buried in my shoulder from a Boltok. If I hadn't been wearing the armor, I wouldn't have an arm anymore. _Because of her._

My left arm already had limited movement from the burns, now, it was all but useless. Shit, if I hadn't been near that pond, I would have burned up. _Because of her._

I was really missing my cigars too. All that nigger, Burton had to do was hold on to them. Instead, he falls out of the copter because of one little mortar. _Because of her._

"Stranded bitch." She was a defiler, Perth had never _once_ questioned an order from me. Followed me around, treated me like a pro thrashball player or a vid star. In five minutes, she had turned him against me.

Once I got myself fixed up, that whore, and her fag boyfriend were gonna die for this as painfully as possible. If they were still fucking alive.

That firefight had gone on forever, who knew the little bastards had it in them? Better hope they didn't make it.

I smiled as I stuffed more of the torn linen into the wound. At first light, I was gonna get back to the warehouse, gear up and kill 'em both.

**=H=H=**

**A/N: SERE = Survival - Evasion - Resistance - Escape**

**=H=H=**

**END**


	14. A Dish Best Served Cold

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

**=H=H=**

**A DISH BEST SERVED COLD**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I woke up with groan, wondering where the hell I was at first. I could feel Cordy's arm wrapped around me, and then it suddenly hit me what we had been through yesterday.

I gently pulled her arm free from me, not wanting to startle her. As I sat up, everything hurt. I hadn't felt this bad, since after Buffy's beating when I was possessed. As I fumbled around in the dark for the candle, I realized, I actually felt a whole lot worse.

After getting the candle lit, I looked over to Cordy, who was still sleeping. Her face was one big bruise, I'd have to keep her away from any mirrors for a few days at least.

That mother-fucker had beaten her, knocked out one of her teeth, and almost raped her. Yesterday I didn't think she was in any shape to go after him, but if she still felt she could do it today, I'd back her all the way.

I debated whether or not I should go up into the house to take a leak, I didn't want to leave her alone though. After going back and forth on it, I finally deciding I should just wake her up.

Gently shaking her, I avoided the sudden elbow she threw at me. I gave her a kiss on her battered cheek, and hoped my dumb present would make up for it.

"Hey gorgeous, if you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask." I told her with a grin.

Cordelia looked down, embarrassed. "I'm really sorry I-"

"Don't worry about it." I held out the rubber ducky I'd found yesterday. "Here, I got this for you."

I wasn't even sure why I kept it. The only things that really mattered to us now were guns, food, water and shelter, usually in that order.

Cordy seemed surprised by it. "Where the heck did you find one of these?" She asked as she gave it a few squeaks.

"When I was pulling all that crap away from the hotel doors, I found it in the mess." I was kinda worried she'd think it was stupid. "I figured, you ah, might like it."

"It's sweet Xander," She gave me a little smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I didn't want to bring this up, but it had to be asked. "Listen, do you still wanna..."

"Yes." She said instantly.

"Fine," I told her with a sigh, I really hoped she was ready for this. "Let's go get cleaned up, I feel like shit."

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

After two hours of painfully digging out shrapnel, and bandaging cuts and scrapes, we both felt a lot better. If I hadn't been so exhausted last night, I doubt I could have slept much.

I looked around for the right place to leave the ducky, it had been really sweet of him to grab it. I felt kind of silly though, looking for the perfect spot, like a little girl with a teddy bear.

I didn't care though, Xander had thought of me, even while he was being chased down by a bunch of Locust. That's what mattered the most.

"Ya ready Cor?" He called down through the trap door.

Before we went after _him_, we were going to scavenge for some food in the nearby houses. I really hoped we'd find something decent.

**=H=H=**

I felt a lot better as I came down the stairs of the house we'd found. With fresh clothes on, and everything bandaged, it made a big difference.

I saw that Xander was sitting at the kitchen table about to get breakfast ready. "I saw blood in the toilet bowl upstairs, what did I miss?"

He looked down and focused on the cans he was opening. "Nothing."

I could tell he was hiding something from me, and it really made me mad. "Xander, I'm going to say this just once. If you start this bullshit with me again, I _will_ hurt you."

He gave a loud sigh as he looked up at me. "I was pissing blood, it's not exactly something I wanna bring up in conversation."

"Jesus Christ Xander, you were just going to hide it from me, and hoped it would go away?"

"I didn't think-"

"That's right, you didn't." I remembered a bruise I saw on his back earlier today, I wanted to take another look at it. "Take off your sweatshirt."

After a little grumbling, he did so, and I got a closer look at his lower right side of his back. There was a circular outline, roughly the size of a soda can in the middle of the huge bruise. "What the hell hit you?"

"Let me think."

"You don't remember?" I asked incredulously.

"I got the crap beat outta me Cor, it could have... Wait, I nailed a doorknob when that Grenade threw me across the room."

"He _threw_ you?"

"Yeah, he grabbed me by the ankle and threw me, he was pretty pissed that I cut his arm off. I finally got him though, when I jammed my thumbs in his eyes."

As I handed him his sweatshirt back, I decided I really needed to get the rest of the story out of him. Xander had actually gotten into a physical fight with one of these things, and _that_ was scary.

He was bigger and stronger then me, and had gotten his ass handed to him. I didn't even want to _think_ about what would have happened if I had been in that situation.

"Why don't you start making breakfast, and tell me what happened?"

"Am I gonna be okay though?" He asked, a little worried.

"I'm pretty sure you will, where your back hit the doorknob, is right where your kidneys are located." I sat down at the table, hoping I was right. "Honestly, there isn't a whole lot we could do if you _were_ seriously hurt anyway..."

"How do you know about this stuff Cor? I never pictured you as the type of girl that would want to be a nurse or something."

"My Aunt Christina, she's sort of the black sheep of the family. She's really nice though, unlike Mother, the ice queen. She got a little too tipsy at a cocktail party at her mansion one night, and ended up mixing herself a drink with insecticide. She ruined her kidneys, and ended up on dialysis."

"Whoa, that's messed up." Xander told me as he finished cutting the top off of a can.

"Yeah, since I'm the only person in the family who liked her, I was the only person to visit her in the hospital. I read everything I could about kidneys, thinking I could come up some cure on my own. What did I know though? I was fourteen."

"Did your aunt get better?"

"I don't know," I told him, looking down at my melting cup of ice. "I offered to give her one of my kidneys, but when the doctors asked permission to type me, Mother accused Aunt Christina of trying to steal it. I wasn't allowed to see her after that."

"That's the Cordy I wish I could have met back in Sunnydale."

Thinking about it, I really wished he had too. Here and now though, I didn't have to worry about keeping up appearances. If it weren't for the fucking Locust and that freak Mongo, Xander and I could almost be happy in this hellhole.

With breakfast ready, I focused on eating, something I hadn't done in a whole day. I didn't think dog food could ever taste that good.

As we finished, Xander asked me the million dollar question.

"So, have you got a plan?" He asked me from across the dusty table.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

We quickly headed through the area we'd had to fight our way out of yesterday, not wanting to stick around for too long. We'd already dodged a big patrol, and didn't want any extra trouble.

I had reloaded the Gnasher with the slug shells, I was really curious to see what they'd do. The Lancer was on my back, and I'd found a decent amount of ammo for it.

Cordy was still carrying her assault rifle, I hadn't found any ammo for it, and she only had three spare clips. The bayonet Lancer was tied to her pack, but it was missing some pieces. I hoped I could fix it later with parts from a spare chainsaw Lancer, and the book I'd found.

"I can't believe how quiet everything is now." Cordelia commented.

We were only two blocks away from the hotel I'd been trapped in yesterday. Cordelia said Mongo had mentioned a warehouse, which sounded real promising to me.

I figured we wouldn't be able to find Mongo walking around, but if we could find that warehouse, we could catch him there.

"Let's hope it stays that way, I just wanna find this warehouse and find a good place to set up an ambush." I told her as we walked in the general direction of where we hoped the place was.

**=H=H=**

**{{Mongo POV}}**

"Dumb-ass kids." Talking over their comms about how they're gonna ambush me? I snorted, mine was set to receive only and I heard every word they said, just like I always did. Big mistake.

As I made my way down the alley, I knew they were coming down the street ahead of me. Growing up in this town made all the difference. If I could get close enough, I could take that homo out and have her all to myself again.

This snow made everything harder, noise, tracks... "Shit." I had to hide behind a stack of pallets, and watch as they passed by the alley without a glance. Fucking amateurs.

I finally got to the mouth of the alley, and watched them continue to get further away from me. They were moving fast, and getting too close to the warehouse. I had to do something now.

Moving into the middle of a bunch of cars in the street for cover, I aimed for the bitch's boyfriend. They were already thirty feet away. Screw it, he dies now.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

A shot went off and a bullet passed between the two of us. I watched as it skipped off the roof of a car up ahead.

"Fuck!" A very familiar and angry voice screamed from somewhere behind us.

"Get behind that car!" Xander screamed and we took off, splitting to either side of the nearest one. Another shot flew right past Xander.

As we both sat behind the car, Mongo started up again. "I'm gonna kill that faggot boyfriend of yours, you slut! Then it's back to play time!"

Xander and I looked at each other. "I don't think he likes me too much."

"Watch this." I told him with a smirk. "With the way you shoot, you couldn't hit us if we were standing still, mister anger problem!"

Four shots went off in short order, hitting the car in different places. "You fucking bitch! You're gonna beg for it!"

With him having to reload, we both got up and tried to get a shot at him. We couldn't see him, so we were waiting for him to poke his head up. I was hoping to hit one of his arms or something.

I saw his head start to come up and I fire several rounds and missed, causing him to duck back down. "Come on you fucking coward!"

He started firing back blindly and we had to take cover behind the car again.

"A Mexican standoff, wonderful."

I looked over at him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"We're in the middle of one right now Cor."

"**_Hostiles!_**" A Locust voice cried from somewhere in Mongo's direction.

"Great," I said, disgusted. "All that idiot's shooting must have alerted that patrol."

Rounds started pinging off of the car we were behind. I wasn't sure if the Locust knew we were there, or if they were just aiming for Lieutenant burn-face.

"I'll show ya hostile! Fuckin' grubs!" Mongo's scream could barely be heard as he returned fire.

"Better and better." Xander muttered.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I leaned the shotgun against the car and pulled the Lancer free. I'd have to hold off on trying the new shells.

"I thought you wanted to try those slug things?" Cordelia asked curiously.

"That thing is shit at a distance." I told her as I peeked over the trunk of the car before quickly coming back down. "How do you wanna play this?"

"Kill them, wound him." She said simply.

"It sounds easier then it really is Cor."

After shoving the snow away, she used the hood of the car to steady the gun and look through the scope.

"Mongo is still in the same spot, and there's at least five, maybe more, coming straight for him." Cordy advised.

"We need to move further up, otherwise we're gonna be wasting ammo." I made a run for a set of steps about ten feet away.

**:**_Is that the best idea Xander?_**:** She asked over the comm.

**:**_Yesterday this place was swarming with Locust!_**:** I argued. **:**_If we don't take care of this fast, it's gonna happen again!_**:**

I could see a Grenade waving some of the others forward, he definitely had to go. I fired, hitting him in the thighs and belly. He ended up in the snow, making loud groaning noises.

I guessed Cordy took that as a cue, because she took off down the street. She ended up even closer then I was. The steps she had chosen were chest-high, and looked a helluva lot safer then mine.

A Drone actually came to try and drag the Grenade away, which surprised me. I shot him in the back as he bent over, but had to duck when the others realized where I was.

**:**_How many have you gotten so far?_**:** Cordy asked.

**:**_Two, I think the others are sticking to cover!_**:**

**:**_Three more are heading for Mongo now, they want him as bad as we do!_**:**

I wanted to call bullshit, but decided against it. **:**_Maybe we should let them have him!_**:** I looked over and saw she was reloading, I was hoping it was her first one.

**:**_Only if we have to!_**:** She squeezed off a series of shots down the street.

Cordelia had to pull back when they peppered the stairs with fire. This was getting bad.

**:**_Besides,_**:** Cordy continued. **:**_We'd end up having to kill these bastards sooner or later anyway!_**:**

**:**_Fine Cor, just watch your freaking ammo!_**:**

I saw something arc from where Mongo was hiding onto the sidewalk on the left side. It exploded, sending pieces of Locust flying.

**:**_What was that?_**:**

**:**_Our pal just tossed a grenade, least it wasn't at us!_**:**

I watched as more smoke appeared and then fire. The grenade had caught something on fire, I just wasn't sure what it was.

**:**_I can't see crap through all that smoke!_**:** Cordy complained.

A big shape started to appear through the haze. I couldn't tell what it was at first, but then I saw something swinging over it's head as it got closer.

**:**_We got a Crusher coming up on my side!_**:** I decided to avoid it for the moment, this far away, I'd just be wasting ammo.

**:**_I can barely see him over the cars!_**:**

I could still see Mongo, since the smoke was on the opposite side of him from me. He'd unloaded all six rounds into the huge Locust in a matter of seconds. It made me wonder why he wasn't carrying anything heavier.

**:**_I just took out another Drone, but there's a Helmet heading over to your side!_**:**

**:**_That Crusher is about to whack Mister Burns!_**:** I started shooting at him, trying to miss the huge shield, and failing miserably in the process.

**:**_The hell it is!_**:** Cordy exclaimed, she started to put round after round in the things general direction, most were missing.

**:**_Slow down on the-_**:**

"**_Crush!_**"

The Crusher had just brought his weapon down on a car between him, and Mongo's hiding spot. The chain had wrapped itself across the roof of the car, and the head had slammed into the passenger side door, lifting it up off the ground. The impact had been so hard it had sent Mongo flying into another car.

**:**_Holy shit!_**:** It looked like he'd missed Mongo by inches. Before I could tell if he was even still alive the Helmet started firing at me. As I ducked, a ricochet grazed my upper right arm.

Why were Helmet's always out to get me?

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

The Helmet seemed to really dislike Xander, as he concentrated most of his fire on him. I fired two shots at him, missing both, and my clip went dry.

**:**_Shit I'm out!_**:** I couldn't believe I'd gone through four clips that fast on single shot. I had wasted too many rounds on the goddamn Crusher.

**:**_That bastard's making a run for it._**:**

I watched helplessly as Mongo made a run for an alley on my side of the street. With no one shooting at him, he was gone in seconds.

No, he was _not_ getting away. **:**_I'm going after him!_**:**

**:**_With what, a pistol?_**:**

He was right, which really annoyed me for some reason. Then, I remembered Xander had left his shotgun behind the car we'd taken cover behind originally. **:**_Cover me, I'm heading back._**:**

**:**_This is a bad idea!_**:** Xander warned, as he opened up on the Helmet's position.

I skidded in the snow, and grabbed the bumper to swing myself behind the car. I tossed my gun in the snow, it was dead weight now. **:**_I'm taking your shotgun, be sure to grab my rifle before you leave, okay?_**:**

Quickly snatching up the big gun, I headed down the street away from the fight. I couldn't get to that alley with the Locust back there, but I'd find a way around.

**:**_Where the hell are you going Cor?_**:**

**:**_All that's left is a Helmet and a Crusher, that's nothing you can't handle!_**:**

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I shook my head as Cordy took off, I hoped she knew what she was doing. The only way I wanted to _handle_ those two, was putting their heads on pikes.

I tried to get another shot on the Helmet, but the smoke was starting to get thick, it looked like he was trying to get to the Crusher. That dumbass thing, was still convinced Mongo was hiding behind the cars.

The Helmet grunted loudly as it ducked to avoid the Crusher's mace. It looked like it gave orders, and then shoved the big Locust in my general direction. Immediately after, he ran down the street in the opposite direction Cordy had.

**:**_The Helmet's running, probably to get more Locust._**:** I warned her as the Crusher came at me. I could easily outrun him now, but I really didn't want to find him at my back later on.

"**_For Queen!_**" He rumbled as he stalked toward me.

I shot him several times in the head, but he quickly deployed the shield. It covered most of his head and torso, but left his feet and ankles vulnerable.

I fired into it's feet and it lowered the shield, so I aimed for it's head. I had to keep backing up since he wouldn't give up. After going back and forth several times, he caught a round in the eye, and finally fell over.

I could hear Cordelia breathing heavily over the comm, the asshole must be running hard. **:**_You doing okay Cor?_**:**

I pried the shield loose from it's beefy hand and dragged it to a couple of garbage cans.

**:**_He's crossing over Cole Boulevard, near that playground!_**:**

**:**_I'm going to try cutting him off in the other direction._**:** I told her. We didn't know very many streets, but that one had four lanes, with trees planted down the middle. It was hard to miss.

I could feel blood running down my arm as I leaned the shield against the wall of a house and shoved the cans in front. I just hoped the Locust didn't notice it.

I decided the graze would have to wait, and headed toward the alley Mongo had used to escape. I could see several of the row houses were now on fire, and wondered how far it would go.

After getting to the far end of the alley, I took a right. I was pretty sure I was only about three blocks away from there.

**=H=H=**  
I reached the playground in a matter of minutes, but I couldn't tell where to go from there.

**:**_Where are you now Cor?_**:** The closer I got, the more I seemed to worry about her.

**:**_He's hiding like a rat on a street called Summit._**:** She sounded pissed. **:**_It's two blocks over._**:**

**:**_Be there soon._**:** I took off down a cross street, it wouldn't take long to get there.

**=H=H=**

**{{Mongo POV}}**

I stood in the doorway of the abandoned row house, the door cracked just enough that I could see the street clearly. That stupid bitch was _still_ announcing exactly where she was going, which was right where I wanted her.

I had wanted to keep her alive, but now, I just wanted the fucking whore dead. There weren't gonna be any misses this time. Once she passed by I was gonna step out and use the doorway to keep the Boltok steady.

She was about to get what was coming to her.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I made my way along the street I had seen him run down. I'd lost sight of him when I tripped over an old tire, buried in the snow. Now, the street was empty.

I clutched the shotgun tightly as I looked for any indication he was nearby. The Locust must have used it frequently, there were tracks everywhere.

**:**_Where are you now Cor?_**:** Xander suddenly asked, causing me to jump slightly.

**:**_He's hiding like a rat on a street called Summit. It's two blocks over._**:** I told him as I continued to scan both sides, looking into alleys and behind cars. He was _not_ getting away again.

**:**_Be there soon._**:**

The more Mongo ran, the angrier I got. He had plenty of balls when he was sneaking up on a vulnerable, unarmed person. When I got my hands on him, he wouldn't have any at all.

I stopped when I heard a boot crunch in the snow. I tried to place where it was coming from. Suddenly, a shot went off and I screamed as something hit me between the shoulder blades. It snapped my head back and threw me off of my feet.

I hit the ground hard, my face slamming into the snow, and my head was whirling from the impact of the shot. Behind me, I heard the sound of boots approaching me through the snow.

"I guess I _could_ hit ya standing still, huh bitch?" Mongo taunted.

As I crawled through the snow, trying to get away, I knew if I wasn't dying already, I would be shortly.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I heard a loud shot and Cordelia scream, almost simultaneously. Shit.

**:**_Cor baby, I'm coming!_**:** The sound of her in pain pushing me to move even faster.

As I turned the corner, I saw her in the street, twenty feet away. The bastard was casually walking up to her, a revolver in hand. "You mother-fucker!"

He fired a hasty shot at me which went wide to the right and he took off toward a row house. As he turned, I noticed something black on the side of his face, a comm. He was heading for an open door behind him and to his left.

I pulled the rifle up to my shoulder and started firing from left to right. I saw him miss a step, and there was some kind of flash before he disappeared into the doorway. I was really hoping I'd hurt him bad, but I put those thoughts aside as I ran to Cordelia, turning off my comm along the way.

My foot hit a slick spot and I hit the ground, landing just short of her. I was worried since it didn't look like she had done more then crawl since I had first caught sight of her.

"Cordy!" Immediately, I turned her comm off as well, and then tried to keep her still.

"Xander?" She whispered, and struggled against me.

"Don't move, I need to find out where you were hit. Where does it hurt?" I found a hole in her backpack, and tried to follow it to where it had hit her.

"My upper back, how bad is it?"

"You're fine Cordy, you're gonna be fine." God, I hoped I wasn't lying to her.

I had finally found where the bullet had gone. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it was lodged in the receiver of Mongo's Lancer. If hadn't been ready to shit myself, I might have found it ironic.

"Cordy, you're okay. It got stuck in the Lancer, it never touched you."

I took my hands off of her, now that I didn't have to worry about her getting hurt any worse. She slowly got to her knees.

My right hand pulled my revolver loose in case Mongo decided to show his ugly face. I put my left arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"I feel kind of stupid now." Cordelia said as she clutched my shoulders tightly.

"Don't worry, I'd be just as freaked as you are Cor." I assured her, as I kept my eye on the house he'd disappeared into.

"Where is that asshole?" She asked angrily.

That made me feel a little better, Queen C was making her comeback. "He went into a house, I know I got him with at least one shot though." I got to my feet, relieved. That had been way too close.

I held out my hands and helped Cordy to her feet. As she started to brush the snow off herself, I could see she was still a little unsteady. "Take it easy, you almost got killed."

She looked up at me with a little smile, her face red from being in the snow for so long. "I'm fine now Xander, I just got the wind knocked out of me."

"Okay." As much as I'd like to argue, it wasn't my call and that bastard needed to die.

"Which house is it anyway?"

I nodded my head toward it, as I returned the revolver to it's holster.

"You think he's still in there?"

"I guess we'll have to find out Cor." I told her, as I eyed the house, I wasn't looking forward to searching it, for his dirty ass. "Here," I told her, holding out the Lancer. "Switch with me.

**=H=H=**

"I'm going to go in first Cor. Cover my back, and keep your rifle pointed straight ahead at all times, especially when you're going into a room."

"Xander, I know this already."

"Oh yeah, and make sure you check corners and closets, and let me know it's empty when you're done."

"Is that all?" She asked sarcastically as we reached the door. "Where did you come up with this over-complicated plan anyway?"

"I told you before, action movies." It was sad that I had to rely on those for this, but it wasn't like I had any other ideas. "Just follow my lead."

I gave the front door a shove with the barrel of the shotgun and swept the room with it. "Clear, go right." I whispered.

She came into the house and pointed right, into a door. "Empty."

"Okay, let's go in there and around to the back." I followed as she went into the room, checking behind a sofa that was set at an angle. Every large piece of furniture or dark corner had me worried.

Even though it was daytime, the light didn't come in very well through the grimy windows. Times like this were when I missed electricity the most.

Just as I went to aim for the next door, Cordy stepped in front of me. "Cor, you have to be careful here. If this prick jumps out, I need to know I've got a clear shot."

"Sorry," She whispered back as she glanced at the stairs. "Do you think he could be up there?"

"Doubt it, I don't think he's even in the house anymore."

"Then why are we even doing this?" She asked as she carefully opened the door and scanned the next room with her rifle. "Empty."

"Cause I don't want to take the chance of one of us getting shot again." I told her as I followed her into what turned out to be the kitchen.

I saw a door to the right and realized it was the back one. Another was behind me to my left, I pulled it open and pointed the shotgun inside. "Just a pantry."

Pulling back, I could see Cordelia waiting for me. I could tell she wanted to get moving. I knew how she felt, this cat and mouse crap was getting old.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Are we ready to leave?" I asked impatiently. Xander's heart was in the right place, but Mongo was going to get away, _again_, if we didn't move.

"Yeah." He almost slammed the door to the pantry shut, but thought better of it. "Let's just go."

I stepped aside as I opened the back door and then went for the screen one. I started to push it open, when I heard a rattle. "Shit!"

"What-"

Turning, I grabbed Xander, just then I heard two beeps. As I started to shove him down, an explosion slammed me into him, knocking us both to the floor.

I groaned, as I lay there with my head on his chest, and I could feel his shotgun jammed into my stomach. I didn't think I had any new shrapnel in me, but the impact on my already battered body hurt like hell.

"You okay Cor?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw a large hole where the grenade had been. I collapsed back on top of him, just glad we were both still alive after that.

"Cordy?"

"I'm fine Xander," After a few more seconds, I pushed off of him and started to get to my feet. "Just a little shook up from my _latest_ near-death experience."

"I hear that." He grunted as he got to his feet. He got his first look at the damage the grenade had done. "I only like those things when we're using them."

"Do you think there are any others out there?" I asked as I got all the stuff I was carrying back together.

"Could be, but he's definitely not in the house anymore."

Xander went out the back door first, his shotgun, what did he call it? A Gasher? Leading the way.

"Fucking fantastic." He muttered as he stood on the steps leading to the back yard.

I looked over his shoulder and saw why, another damn alley. "How do you want to do this?"

The gate to the alley was wide open as we made our way down the steps to the to the yard.

Xander waved me to the ground. "It's you're show Cor, you tell me." He took an old potted plant, and threw it through the open gate, nothing.

I looked down both sides of the alley, long and empty. There were tracks going in both directions, he must have used the alley previously. "I guess we're going to have to split up again."

"Are you sure?" By the look on his face, he really wasn't crazy with the idea.

"We have to end this Xander."

"Fine, just set your comm to 'receive', I had to turn them off when you got shot."

I looked at him angrily. "Why the heck did you do that? What if-"

"Stop," He told me, holding up his hand. "The reason he's been able to sneak around like he has, is because he's been listening to us the whole fucking time with his own."

I thought about it. How Mongo had been able to leave the messages, avoid our traps, everything. When we left the house, we never turned them off, even if Xander and I were with each other.

"Think about it Cor, this way, he thinks you're dead."

I walked over and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Then he'll never see me coming," I told him with a smile. "Let's go."

We each went a different way down the alley, Mongrel couldn't have gotten too far with a bullet in him, I just hope he didn't die before I could catch up.

**=H=H=**

**{{Mongo POV}}**

I'd heard the grenade go off ten minutes before, but there was no guarantee he'd bought it. I thought about doubling-back to check, but decided I didn't wanna take the chance.

I'd been limping through this fucking alley for five minutes after I'd left the house. I'd made it about two blocks away since then. I wanted to take a break, but figured I should keep moving, before the little bastard started looking for revenge.

Hearing that _Xander_ guy screaming like a bitch over his girl getting shot made me want to laugh. Once I got my leg fixed up, then I'd do the laughing.

The two rounds in my right thigh were slowing me down. I knew they hadn't hit anything major, or I'd have bled out by now. But just because it didn't hurt, didn't make things any easier.

Two blocks from the warehouse, and I already had a plan, it was even better then the last. Once I got myself fixed up, the boyfriend was gonna wish I'd killed him like his bitch.

Then, all I had to do was wait for the COG, and give them the info on what happened here. When Colonel Tyson heard about this, we could finally wipe out all those fucking Stranded camps, starting with Shitsville.

Just before I reached the mouth of the alley my leg buckled, and I fell to the ground with a grunt. I started to climb to my feet when a pair of boots stepped in front of me. As I looked up, I could see a single red eye staring back down at me. A fucking Cyclops.

"**_Die hominid._**" It growled as it pointed it's Lancer down and laughed at me.

It's nasty laugh was cut off by the bullets that ripped through his chest. Suddenly, there was two hundred and sixty pounds of dead Locust on top of me, and nowhere to go.

My face was pinned to the ground. From underneath the Cyclops' leg, I could see a second pair of boots appear. I knew those boots _real_ well.

The crazy bitch knelt down in front of me, Lancer in hand. "Going somewhere Mongo?" She asked sweetly.

I'd be better off with the fucking grubs.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

The sky was already starting to get darker as I made my way down the street. Looking for that psycho, and trying to do it quietly to keep anymore Locust away. I'd had more then enough of them today.

What light was left was being overtaken by thick black smoke, that fire was becoming massive.

Suddenly I heard a burst of shots, I flipped the switch to turn the comm on and hoped for the best.

**:**_Cor, is everything okay?_**:**

**:**_I got him._**:** Cordy's excited voice came a few seconds later.

I was kinda wary, until I saw that fucker dead, I wouldn't be happy. **:**_Where are you?_**:**

**:**_I'm two blocks over from that house, on... Falls._**:** A giggle came over the line. **:**_He's not going anywhere._**:**

**:**_On my way._**:** I told her, as I changed immediately directions.

Five minutes later I found them. They were hard to miss with Cordy standing there, taunting Mongo, and him with a Locust on his back. His face was towards me, half buried in the snow.

I dropped the shotgun to the side and got down on my stomach so he could see me clearly. "I told you I'd be seeing you again cock-sucker."

He tried to spit on me, but it landed way-short in the snow. I was willing to bet that happened a lot in his life.

I got back to my feet, picking the gun back up along the way. I turned to Cordy, who looked proud of herself for catching him. I didn't blame her one bit.

"You want me to do it?" I wasn't sure if she'd be able to, but I didn't have that problem.

"I've got other plans." She told me cryptically.

**=H=H=**

I saw blood in the snow of the alley, It must have finally built up enough to leak from his armor.

"If you wanna work him over, that's cool Cor. But he's bleeding, the Locust are going to follow the trail wherever we go."

Cordy pointed the Lancer at him, letting him know he wasn't getting away.

I grabbed the Locust, it looked like a Helmet, by the legs. Slowly, I managed to drag the body off of our prisoner.

"Get up and take the armor off." She told him with a look of disgust on her face.

He rolled over onto his back and leered at her. "You don't need the gun baby. All you gotta do is ask real nice."

This was a waste of our time, we had to move. I walked over to Mongo, and slammed the butt of the Gnasher into his temple. He was out like Giles in a fight.

"We've got to get this armor off and bandage him up. Then we have to find a place to do whatever it is you got in mind." I told her, as I stepped back from him.

"But-" Cordelia started to argue.

"We're gonna draw a crowd like yesterday Cor, we gotta get inside somewhere."

"You're right," She said, clearly unhappy. "How do you want to do this?"

"Start looking for a house we can set up in, I'll take care of Lieutenant douche bag."

Cordelia quickly moved down the street, gun at the ready. She started at the other end of the street from the bloody alley, which was smart. She still had the easy job though.

"This is going to be fun." I muttered to myself, as I looked down at the man that had made our lives hell for the past three weeks. Mongo's armor was a lot different then the other Gear's stuff I'd seen.

There were none of the blue lights that seemed to be so common on the others. While he had the double discs on his chest like the smaller Gears, the armor had this huge hump, that was almost as tall as his head.

Realizing I was wasting time, I started messing with the disks on his chest. It took me several minutes before I managed to separate the two sides.

I gagged, the smell was terrible. I doubted he had taken his armor off at all since the chopper had crash-landed here. I also saw why he had only carried a revolver.

Mongo had a disgusting shoulder wound that looked really infected. It looked like he had just shoved some kind of cloth in it.

I looked in dread at the lower half, wondering how much worse _that_ was going to be. Better me then Cordy, I decided as I got the heavy work gloves out, this was gonna be messy.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Wow, there's a lot in here." I told Xander, as we made our way through the house I had found.

"Glad I could help." He said with a smirk, as we quickly walked through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement.

Mongo was tied to the table. He was in his filthy underwear and spread-eagle, much like I had been. It wasn't a pretty sight, but I could deal.

With a smile, I dumped the bucket over Mongo's unconscious head. I watched as he woke up with a yell, followed by a series of choking coughs.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Burn, does it?" I asked innocently.

"What the hell is this shit?" Mongo demanded.

With a pair of work gloves on, I used a dirty rag to wipe his eyes clear. It wouldn't be any fun if he couldn't see anything.

"I'll tell you, but only if you say pretty please."

"Fuck you!"

"I don't think he's in a playful mood Cor." Xander offered.

I turned to see Xander casually leaning against a dusty, old china closet. I reminded myself to check and see if there was anything good in there later.

"Fine," I told him, giving a dramatic sigh. I turned back to a very unhappy Gear. "If you must know, it's pee."

"You pissed on me?"

"Of course not." I bent down and picked up the bucket. "It came from this." I showed the castle-shaped, plastic object to him with a flair.

"You're fuckin' sick lady."

That wasn't something I was expecting. "You've got a-"

"Actually," Xander cut in.

The Lieutenant turned toward him. Snarling at the disgusted look he was receiving from Xander.

"It was _my_ piss." He stared the man down with clear contempt. "I just had this sudden urge to go, and it seems our toilet was out of order."

"And look," I turned it upside down over his head, letting the last few drops hit him. "You can make a sandcastle with it too!"

"When the COG hears about this-"

"Hears about it?" Xander sneered. "They're gonna _see_ it. Your head is going out on our front lawn mother-fucker." He let out a laugh. "It's gonna have a great view of all the Gears you killed, buried in their graves, while you rot in the streets."

I dropped the bucket, and headed back toward the stairs, I giggled at the thunk it made as it bounced off his head, and the yell that followed.

"And the best part," I added as I walked up the stairs. "The rest of you is gonna be Locust food!"

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

As Cordelia left to do God knew what, I looked at the sad-sack on the table. I wasn't sure what Cordy had in mind, but this guy certainly deserved it.

"You know, I'm not sure exactly why you did this shit..."

"So you suddenly care now?" The big man asked nastily.

I ignored him. "If you would have let Miranda contact us, we could have worked together." I told him as I stepped up to the table. "Two of your Gears would still be alive, and we'd be in much better shape."

Mongo chuckled. "Ya got a real hard-on for her, huh kid?"

I answered him with a punch to the face.

He turned back to face me like nothing had happened. "Ground's pretty cold, betcha could still have some fun."

Hauling back, I punched him again. This time, I felt something break, I was guessing his cheekbone. Yay me.

A trickle of blood came down the corner of his mouth, he licked it away. "Hit a nerve kid?"

"It's funny, I really thought I'd be the one doing this." I told him, as I used a tablecloth on the floor to wipe off my hand.

"Don't have the stomach for it?" He asked with a bloody-toothed smile.

"Just the opposite, I didn't think she did. I never wanted it to come to this."

"You could always let me go."

I punched him a third time for his stupid comment. "The fact that you've pushed her this far makes me angrier then I've ever been in my life. The worst thing I can do is let her have you, and that's exactly what I'm doing."

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

After listening to what Xander had said, it just made me realize how much he cared about me. I knew I was falling for him, but I put that aside. It was time for business.

I waited a few minutes, before I returned with a weapon I knew Mongo was _very_ familiar with. I was about to speak when he interrupted.

"That's my-"

"Let the lady speak," Xander intervened. "Or I might suddenly feel the need to go, again."

I gave him a nod of thanks, as he stepped back from the table. Then, I went back to letting Mongo get a good look at what I was holding.

"I want to introduce you to something."

His face said it all, he thought he knew where this was going.

"This," I aimed the rifle at his face, poking him in the nose with the knife thing. "Is a Lancer."

"You fucking whore."

"I'm going to kill a really big prick with it today."

"Go head, Do it!" He screamed defiantly.

I ran the blade down his chest, leaving a thin line of blood, I wanted to make him hurt first.

"It tickles." He mocked.

**=H=H=**

Now, I was pissed. I was trying to hurt this guy, and here he was, laughing at me. I was ready to just jam the knife into his skull, but Xander interrupted.

"Hold up Cor."

"Can't take it kid?" Mongo laughed. "Maybe if ya say _pretty please_, she'll letcha have yer balls back."

"Shut up Mongrel." Turning to Xander, I saw him staring at Mongo. He looked about as happy with the situation as I did. "What is it?"

"There was a flash when you cut him, do it again."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He sighed. "I saw a flash when I shot him in the street, when you were cutting him just now, I saw it again. Try it."

Mongo was strangely silent through all this, which made me wonder.

I poked the blade into his side, he didn't even react.

"There it is again." Xander said as he moved toward us. He turned Mongo's head to the side, and pointed to something. "Look."

I leaned over and saw, behind his right ear, was a quarter-sized, metal disc with a blue lens in it. "What the heck is it?"

"I'm not sure." Xander told me as he poked at the thing. "I know none of the other Gears had one though."

"Don't fucking touch that!" Mongo screamed and tried to jerk his head away from our prodding fingers.

"Hold still asshole." Xander ordered and punched him in the face.

It lit up right after the punch, as I poked at it again and realized it was actually embedded in his skull, _ew_. "What _is_ this thing?"

Mongo tried to pull away again, even after Xander's warning.

Xander held his head down so we could get a better look at it. "Maybe it's some kinda pain blocker, these guys are a lot more high-tech then us."

"Then it has to go." I yanked Xander's hand away and turned Mongo's face toward me. "You hear that you bastard?"

Xander grabbed my arm. "Let me give it a shot Cordy."

After I backed away, Xander tried to pry the thing out with his fingers. After several tries, which caused Mongo to groan, and try to pull away, he shook his head. "It's not coming out."

"Heh-heh... I guess you're just gonna hafta let me go."

I glared down at him. "Oh, you're not going to get off that easy buddy."

"You don't have the guts to do this shit. Couple cuts and punches, but that's it." He then started laughing at me again.

"Really?" I looked down at his smug face, he truly believed I wouldn't kill him. "What do you think of this?" I brought the butt of the gun down on his nose, mashing it into his face, and slamming his head back against the table.

He shook his head a few times, before giving me a look of pure hatred. "You cunt! You broke my fucking nose!"

I hit him again, this time in the mouth. As I pulled back, I could see he was now missing several front teeth. Payback and then some.

He didn't say another word, instead he glared at me, and ran his tongue through the bloody holes in his missing smile.

"I _really_ hate that word, and it's the _second_ time you've used it in front of me." I growled at him.

"I got this covered Cor."

I looked up, and saw Xander walking back toward us, with a pair of pliers in hand. He must have found them somewhere in the basement while I was teaching Mongrel some manners.

"Looky what I found." He taunted Mongo as he snapped them open and shut above his face.

"I'm a COG officer, you can't do this to me!" He insisted, as Xander shoved his head to the side, and clamped down on the disc.

"Watch us." I told him simply as I crossed my arms across my chest to see what would happen.

"You're nothin' but a buncha Strand-!"

As Xander yanked the thing free, Mongo let out a hideous screamb and started seizing wildly. His right arm and legs fought desperately against the ropes, and his head banged repeatedly against the table.

Finally, his body stiffened up and he let out a loud gasp of air, before falling back limply.

"Hol-lee shit."

I turned to Xander. "Is he dead?"

"Let's find out." He held Mongo's head down with his right hand and his left hovered over the mouth. He looked up to me with a grin. "Naw Cor, he's still breathing."

"Good." That could have been an out for me. It could have ended right there, but honestly, I was glad it didn't.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I had to snicker as Cordelia went upstairs with the bucket. I'd told her that I was all out, then I realized she was _really_ committed to tormenting this fuck.

Getting back to what I'd been doing, I studied the thing I'd pulled out of Mongo. There was four inches of metal, as thick as a pencil attached to the disc. I couldn't believe all that had been in his head.

Looking over at him, I could easily see what a wreck he was. His face was quickly forming bruises all over, his nose was badly broken at an angle, his mouth was a dentist's wet dream, and his chest was a bloody mess.

I had always thought of myself as a good person, not the smartest or strongest or anything, just that I'd help someone if they needed it. Thinking about this asshole on the table, or the guy I chainsawed yesterday, I just didn't care.

Sure, I _could_ feel bad, considering what Cordy had told me about him, he was scared of Mongo. But he was still going to try to kill me, so fuck 'em.

I looked up as Cordy came down the stairs, she hadn't taken as long as I'd expected.

"Ugh, I am _never_ doing that again." She complained, as she returned to the basement with the bucket.

"I didn't have any problems." I told her with a grin.

"Keep it up, and you're going to end up with this thing on _your_ head."

I laughed, as she dumped the bucket-o-piss over the prick's head, annoying her never got old.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"What the fuck?" Mongo screamed as he was rudely awakened with pee, for a second time.

"Shut up you pussy."

Xander burst out laughing, he'd been doing that a lot lately. "Would you like to be useful?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Like what?" He said loudly, since Mongo was emitting a constant groan of pain.

"Where was I?" I asked Xander.

"Ummmmm... You were going to kill a-"

"Got it." Turning back to psycho, I gave him a big smile as I fondled the blade. "I decided that I'm going to start _small_."

It finally dawned on him what I was talking about, he knew what was coming.

"You're in for a long night man." Xander informed him.

I stared down at him, with the big gun raised over my head, the huge blade pointed down toward him.

"No, wait!" Mongo plead, tears falling from his right eye.

I had the knife-thing aimed right where I wanted it. The terror he had put in myself, and Corporal Murphy was now shown in _his_ face.

"That thing was fuckin' with my head man! Murphy didn't put it in the right spot! I'm not a bad guy!"

"I don't care." I replied coldly.

**=H=H=**

**END**


	15. Is It Hot, Or is it Just You?

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

A/N: This chapter will mostly be excerpts of Cordelia and Xander's week off.

**=H=H=**

**IS IT HOT, OR IS IT JUST YOU?**

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

We stopped in the middle of the street and stared at our house. After what seemed like forever, we had finally made it home. We were battered and beaten, I knew I looked like shit when Xander started hiding the mirrors.

I didn't care about that anymore. As I looked down at the bloody pillowcase, hanging from my belt, I was just happy we were both alive, and in one piece.

I wasn't that stuck-up bitch, that everyone secretly hated anymore. I had a guy who cared about me, maybe loved me, and a _real_ home to come back to.

"Ya ready Cor?" Xander asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I looked over at him and saw him twirling the large, wooden mop handle he had carved into points on both ends. It wasn't anything fancy, but why screw with what worked?

"Yeah," I smiled, he was still such a dork, but he was _my_ dork. "I can't wait to get this done, my feet are freaking killing me."

"I'll see what I can do when we get inside, promise." Then he gestured toward the pillowcase. "What do you wanna do with that thing?"

"Where do you think is a good spot for it?"

We had a small lawn in front of the house, actually in this city, it was huge. It had a nice little slope about half-way between the house and the street. It was covered in snow now, but in the spring, I hoped it would look nice.

"We should just put it right in the middle, where everybody can see it." He happily suggested.

"Sounds good to me Xander, stick it where you think it'll look best."

I followed him as he made his way to the top small hill and rammed the handle into the ground.

I dropped my pack into the snow and yanked the pillowcase free from my belt. After grabbing a glove from the bag, I reached in and pulled Mongo's head from the bag by what was left of his hair.

His wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression from the last moments of his life were frozen on his face. Poor Corporal Murphy had one similarly, but since Xander had found her body, at least _she_ was going to get a decent burial.

I grabbed the pole to steady it as I pushed what was left of the neck onto the point. It made a crunching sound that quickly turned into a slimy, tearing noise. Finally, it was on there far enough, I knew it wouldn't come loose.

Taking a step back, I took time to admire my work with Xander. As we stood there, I had a thought, I just wasn't sure where it came from.

"Looks good Cor."

Turning to him, I decided to see what he thought. "You don't think I'm a monster, do you?"

"No, I don't." He told me as he put his arm across my shoulders. "When Rodriguez and those Gears were being chased, you wanted to help them. We tried to save his life. A _monster_ doesn't give a shit about _anybody_"

"I know that Xander," I laid my head on his shoulder. "I just want to know if you think I'm some kind of crazy person..."

"I don't Cor. Honestly, I probably would have done a lot worse."

"Really?" I couldn't think of what could be worse then what I'd done.

"Yeah, after what he tried to do to you, I would have kept him alive for a _very_ long time."

I had known Xander a long time, he'd cut off his own arm to help someone he cared about. I didn't doubt for a second he wasn't serious.

"So," He asked, trying to change the subject. "Do you think the Locust enjoyed their present?"

**=H=H=**

**||An almost-empty street||**

"**_Hun-ger._**"

The Butcher lumbered down the street, it's sole purpose was to serve the Queen by finding food for the horde. It enjoyed the hunt for Rockworm, but the flesh of a dead Locust or human made it's loins harden.

"**_Hun-ger._**"

It had caught the smell of human blood mixed with death. Turning a corner, it found it's target shortly after. A headless, unarmored, human corpse. An object was stuck to the body, it neither understood, nor cared, why it was there.

**[_EAT ME_]**

Sticking a hook under the corpse's ribs, it dragged the body away to feed the horde.

"**_Hun-ger._**"

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

"They better enjoy it," Cordy replied with a giggle. "We gave it to them already roasted, for God's sake."

I was happy to see she was in a better mood, because what I was about to ask her to do, wasn't going to be fun for either of us. We'd exchanged our stories on what happened on the way home, but I'd left one thing out. It was just _too_ fucked up to talk about.

Cordelia must have caught on to my mood shift, she touched my arm. "What's wrong?"

I sighed, I _really_ didn't want to do this to her. "Remember while we were walking home, you told me that you got grabbed while you were on the can?"

She frowned. "Yeah."

"Well, when I came out to see what was taking you so long, I found someone else in there."

"What?" Cordy screamed, taking a step back. "Who?"

"It was Miranda. That asshole took off her armor, and propped her body up in there. He even made it look like she was aiming a gun at me."

She just stood there, staring at me in disbelief. "When you said you found her body, I thought you meant you _found_ it somewhere."

"Look, I _wish_ I was joking. Nobody deserves to have something like that done to their corpse." I thought that over for a second. "Okay, Mongo did, but we aren't talking about him."

"So you're telling me that woman's body has been sitting there since I got kidnapped yesterday?"

I looked down at the ground. "Yeah Cor. I was in such a hurry to find you, that I just-"

"Stop." She ordered.

I looked up at her, I just knew she was gonna rip me a new one for this.

"Xander, it's not your fault. You've been driving yourself nuts over that girl for weeks. You only did it, because you actually give a damn."

"Yeah?" I asked, I was really surprised at how this was going. Cordy wasn't heartless, but I really hadn't expected her to take this so easy.

"Yeah, and that's more then I can say for most guys." She sent a glare at the head. "And that's about _living_ women too."

"It's bad enough her body had to get mangled like that," I said, trying to keep an even head over the whole thing. "But she shouldn't have to be stared at while she's naked by some guy."

"I agree. That's why you're going to dig the grave, while I try to get that armor back on her."

It was like she'd read my mind, and then it clicked. She _knew_, as soon as I told her about this, what I was gonna ask. Then, she made it seem like it was her own idea.

"Hey Cor, when we're done here, I'm going to give you the best foot rub you've ever had."

She smiled, before walking toward the side of the house. "I'm going to hold you to that dweeb!"

Considering what she was doing for me, that's the least I could do...

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

As I came around to the back of the house, I could instantly see things weren't right. The blankets on the sides of the latrine were intact, but as I got closer, I could see a long, metal bar sticking out of the rear.

I went around to the back, and saw that it had been stuck into the ground. Following it's path, I could see it had been driven into her back, between the shoulder blades. I headed towards the front, and yanked down the remaining blankets along the way.

"You poor baby." Seeing what the bastard had done to her, the look on her dead face, I felt ready to cry. All I could do was _hope_ he hadn't done anything too bad to her before she'd died. He obviously hadn't had any respect for her body.

I pulled the pistol out of her hand as gently as possible, and worked to try and get the smaller bar out of her arm. "It's okay, I got that bastard, I got him _real_ good, for the both of us."

Soon after, I was pulling hard, trying to get the pole out from her back when I heard a thud. I instantly grabbed up the pistol and aimed toward the fence. Then I watched, as pieces of _something_ were thrown over the side.

After placing the gun back where I had left it, I went over to see what Xander was up to. "What are you doing?"

"I'm pretty sure he took the armor off here, then threw her body onto our side of the fence. I'm trying to get all the pieces together for you now."

"Jesus, that guy was such a _freak_."

"Yeah, watch out." He gave a grunt and heaved the chest piece over the side. With that done, he peeked over the side. "That's all of it Cor, thanks again for this."

I could hear the relief in his voice. I was betting this had been on his mind since he first found her. "It's okay dweeb, now go finish digging that grave, I'll get Corporal Murphy back in her armor."

**=H=H=**

Three hours. It had taken me three hours, to _finally_ to get her fully dressed. Simply getting the armor on wouldn't have been so bad, But her limbs were stuck in the position she'd been left in. I wasn't sure if it was rigor-mortis, or simply the cold weather that had done it.

By working the limbs as firmly, but gently as possible, I finally managed to get her back in all the armor, even the gloves and boots. With a sigh, I headed around to the front of the house to get Xander, and to collect the door to get her body over to the grave.

I reached the front yard, and saw him sitting on the mound, I didn't blame him. The colder it got, the harder it was to break up, and shovel the dirt. Technically, I had the 'easy' job, but he sure didn't think so, and honestly, neither did I.

"Everything's ready Xander, do you need a hand?"

He brought his head up to me, he looked tired. After everything that happened since we'd landed wherever _here_ was, we both did. At this rate, Xander, and I would both be prematurely wrinkled by the time we were thirty.

"No, I finished up a little while ago. I was giving you another ten minutes, before I went back and offered to help."

"I appreciate it," I told him as I walked over, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now come on," I yanked him to his feet. "Let's get that door, so we can give her some rest."

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

"How many this time?" I asked Cordelia, as she looked through the peephole I had made in the door.

"Four of them, walking right by." She pulled back and stuffed the rag back into the hole. She stood up and turned to me. "I'm really surprised they haven't messed with the graves. They seem like they would do that kind of stuff."

"Small favors Cor." I told her as I walked back to the couch to continue working on my latest project. It was a real bitch trying to jam nails into a baseball bat, especially in candlelight.

"Is that thing really necessary?"

"No." I replied, not bothering to look up.

She stepped in front of the candlelight. "Then why are you making it?"

After stabbing that fucking Grenade five times with almost no effect, I figured I needed something a little bigger. But why not have some fun with it? "I've decided I want to try S&M, and I was hoping you wouldn't mind being called Mistress Helga."

"Do I look like a _Helga_ to you jackass?" She asked.

"No, do I look like I really want to try some S&M?"

"Maybe." She said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Is that _interest_ I hear?"

"You wish buster."

"It's okay Cor, I'll be your leather daddy." I told her, with an exaggerated leer.

I flinched as she smacked me in the leg. "Keep it up, and you'll be sleeping on the floor."

"I'll try to remember that." I muttered, as I went back to hammering another nail into the old bat.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I walked downstairs after taking my nap. The dweeb had called me for dinner ten minutes before, and I was looking forward to talking to him. We'd been going through the things Xander had found in the basement I'd been held in since returning.

I had been looking through the books that Xander had grabbed earlier. I knew he wanted to work on the guns and stuff, but the other books caught my eye more. The tech guide was crazy, the things that were in there were something I definitely wanted to see in person.

But what really caught my interest, was the survival guide. There were things in there that I could make _today_. While Xander didn't think so, I felt like I didn't carry my weight around here like he did, I wanted to really show him what I could do.

Sitting down across from him, he could tell something was on my mind. It was weird, how easily it had become for us to read each other.

He put down his knife and fork, and gave me his complete attention. "What's up Cor?"

"I've been looking over those books you got the other day, a lot of the stuff we'd need to do those things are pretty easy to find, I want to try it out."

"Sounds good to me, but I don't want to do it here at the house."

"What?" I asked, confused. "Why not?"

"We shouldn't centralize everything, we need to have a place to fall back to in case the Locust find us."

I nodded, what he said made sense. Plus, we'd have a lot more space split between two houses. "That works for me, it'll give me plenty of extra room for some of the stuff I want to try from those books."

**=H=H=**

Xander smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that, I've been itching to work on some of those guns. I didn't want you to hafta sit around, bored to death."

I got angry hearing that. "You thought I'd wait around, while you did all the work? What do I have to do, to prove I'm not the rich-bitch anymore?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa..." He held his hands up in surrender. "That's not what I meant at all. I'm doing this thing with the guns because I _want_ to. The thing is Cor, I didn't know if you were even _interested_ in the other stuff."

"And why wouldn't I be?"

"Because as close as we've gotten, outside of what we do here, we don't know a helluva lot about each other."

"Oh come _on_ Xander that's-"

"The truth." He insisted. "It's not a knock on either one of us Cor. We've been doing everything we can to survive, and that hasn't left a whole lotta time for anything else."

I stopped to think about it, outside of our budding romance after being thrown together, most of our perceptions of each other _were_ based on our interactions at Sunnydale High.

I decided to change that, right now. I grabbed the candle with one hand, his arm with the other, and led him toward the stairs.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to get to know each other, after some fun of course."

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

After taking two days off, and waiting for things to settle down, we figured now was a good time to check and see if the generator was still in one piece.

We hadn't been to the house since I'd covered it up, and hidden the Private's body. Cordy was hoping it hadn't been dragged off, I couldn't care less either way.

As I looked up at the smoky sky, I realized we finally had a reason to appreciate the snow. If it weren't for the white stuff pretty much covering everything in sight, half the city might have gone up.

I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by Cordy's arm, looking over, she was giving me a death-glare. "What?"

"Get down you idiot." She whispered as she shoved me behind a nearby car.

"What did I miss?"

"Why don't you stand up, maybe they'll miss _you_," She smacked me in the arm. "If you weren't so busy staring up at the sky like some _fucking tourist_, you would have noticed the Locust patrol up the street."

I peeked through the glass-less car windows as they passed through a cross street thirty feet away. It was a typical patrol, three Drones, a Mohawk and... a Flame Boomer. Perfect.

After crouching back down, I turned to Cordy, "We've got to take this patrol out."

"It was _your_ idea to take a week off, now you want to go patrol hunting?" She was still annoyed about earlier.

This was gonna be a tough sell, but I figured I should at least try. "I want that Scorcher, Cor."

"What the hell is a Scorcher?"

"The flamethrower, we still don't have one."

"Are you fucking nuts? Even if you _could_ lug that thing around on your back, it's like carrying a bomb."

"No, listen... I read all about it in that book. It's two _separate_ pieces, you can just carry the gun and refill it from the tank, like at a gas station."

She was wavering, but not convinced just yet. "What keeps the gun from blowing up?"

"That round drum thing on the side," Cordelia nodded her head. "That's where the immulsion stuff, whatever the hell that is, sits inside the gun. _That_ part is armored."

She was thinking it over, but we didn't have time. We needed to get ahead of these guys before we lost them. "If we're gonna do it, we've got to go now Cor."

Cordy gave a sigh. "You are _so_ gonna owe me another foot rub for this Harris."

"You got it, let's go." I couldn't help but think of all the other things I wouldn't mind rubbing...

**=H=H=**

We were running down a parallel street, to the one the Locust were on, and hoping they wouldn't make a turn at some point. After passing a cross street ahead of them, we didn't have to worry about them seeing us.

We finally came to a stop, when it ended in a 'T' intersection. Moving over to the same block, Cordy peeked around the corner of the building with her rifle, and saw the Locust were still heading straight for us.

"This is perfect," I told her, as I looked at everything we had to work with. "Here's the plan..."

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

**:**_What's taking so long?_**:** I hissed at Xander over the comm. I was sitting in front of the second story window of a building facing straight down the street the Locust were on.

Through the scope of my sniper rifle, I could see them, slowly making their way up the block toward us. If it weren't for that fat-ass Flame Boomer, they could have passed by ten minutes ago.

Xander had gone down an alley behind a block of buildings on the right side of the street. The problem was, he should have been in position by now.

**:**_Sorry, I had to saw through a lock on the rear door._**:** He replied sheepishly.

**:**_Which store are you in anyway?_**:**

**:**_It was thee... third door down._**:**

I scanned over the sign of the shop, _OLTURA JEWELERS_ below it, I could see Xander's hand waving at the window. **:**_Anything good left in there?_**:** I asked hopefully.

He snorted. **:**_I'll let you know after the heads are mounted, I can hear 'em coming now._**:**

I pointed the rifle back to the street, the Locust were indeed closing in on the jewelery store. As I started to zero-in on the Flame Boomer's head, I knew this was going to be fun.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I blew out a breath as I heard the Locust approach. If this worked, we'd have a really nasty, new toy to play with. If it weren't for that Arms and Armor book, I would have never known we could carry the thrower by itself.

The best part, I finally got to try out these slug shells. **:**_Remember, I'm not gonna fire-_**:**

**:**_I know what I'm supposed to do._**:** She growled. **:**_Just don't get your ass shot off dork._**:**

**:**_Gotcha Queenie._**:** I was hiding behind a four foot wide space of wall between the door and the display window. At my feet was the Lancer, just in case.

**:**_Your head is going to end up on a stick, if you call me that again._**:**

I was about to retort when the Locust reached our kill zone.

Cordelia started her countdown. **"**_Three, two, one..._**"**

**=H=H=**

I heard the bullet hit the Flame Boomer, and then the shot echo through the buildings of the city. It was on.

**:**_He's staggered, but he isn't down!_**:**

**:**_Keep hitting him, am I good to take out his buddies?_**:**

**:**_Just be careful!_**:**

I grinned, that's all I needed to hear. I swung around the wall and fired into the nearest Drone, it caught him in the side, splattering the one next to him with blood. Quickly working the lever, I shot that one too, as he turned toward me.

Another round from Cordy's Longshot boomed, that Flamer didn't have long now.

I loved these new shells, I'd caught the second one in the stomach, causing him to spin. The hole in his back was the size of a fucking baseball.

**:**_Xander watch out!_**:** Cordelia screamed over the comm.

I looked up from the Drone corpse, to see the Flamer aiming at me.

"**_Burrrrrn._**"

I yanked myself behind the wall _as_ a jet of flame shot at me.

**:**_Pay attention you moron! You want to end up looking like Mongo?_**:**

The liquid flame continued to spread throughout the jewelery shop, cutting off my escape.

**:**_Cor, you need to kill this cock-sucker now!_**:**

**:**_It's not my fault this idiot's helmet-_**:** She let off another round. **:**_Is thicker then your freaking head!_**:**

I had nowhere to go, the back door out of there was on the other side of a huge wall of fire, the only other one, lead right out to three _very_ pissed off Locust.

**:**_Xander, the Drone's heading right for you!_**:**

I barely had any time to process what she said, when the Locust came busting through the door, knocking it off of it's hinges. The Drone's momentum carried it right past me, and I quickly shot it in the thigh, blowing it's leg off.

As I brought another shell to the ready, it rolled onto it's back, ready to shoot me with it's Hammerburst rifle. I caught it in the chest just in time, before it could pull the trigger.

"**_Burrrrrn._**" The fire was quickly spreading, setting the rest of the rear on fire. It was becoming harder and harder to find a safe place.

**:**_I'm okay, he's dead!_**:** I told her, I didn't see a reason to worry her anymore.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I couldn't believe how bad this had gone, I should have _never_ told Xander to start shooting. I didn't know what kind of armor that Flamer's helmet had, but I'd already put three rounds into it with no effect.

I didn't even know how these things survived. If I weren't trying to _save_ the goddamn flamethrower, I could have taken the whole lot out at once, with one shot.

The Mohawk and Drone had been taking badly-aimed potshots at me since they'd discovered my location, I ignored them. I was concentrating on the Flame Boomer, simply because I saw him as the biggest threat.

All of a sudden, the Drone broke cover and ran straight for the door of the shop Xander was in. This was going to shit real fast. **:**_Xander, the Drone's heading right for you!_**:**

I watched helplessly, as it burst through the door that Xander was in. I thought I heard his shotgun, but I couldn't be sure. All I could do was keep shooting at the Flamer, and hope for the best.

**:**_I'm okay, he's dead!_**:** Xander screamed over the comm, much to my relief.

It was short lived though, as the heavily armored Locust I'd been trying to kill for the past five minutes headed toward the door now. **:**_Now the Flamer's coming for you!_**:**

**:**_I got nowhere to go Cor, everything's on fire!_**:**

**:**_That's it, I'm shooting that-_**:** Suddenly, I had to pull back, the Mohawk had shot out the window I was leaning out of, showering me in glass.

**:**_Eat this!_**:** I heard him yell, and then a shot went off.

I looked through the scope again to see the Flamer on his back outside the doorway, with half of his head gone.

**:**_Are you out of your fucking mind?_**:** I couldn't believe how close he'd come to getting himself burned or blown up.

"**_Fall baaack!_**" The remaining Locust yelled, as he started to run back the way he'd come.

I looked back at Xander and saw him leave the burning building, right now he was trying to drag the Flame Boomer out of it's range. When I caught up with the Mohawk again, I could see he was really moving. Where did this dumbass think he was going?

**=H=H=**

**:**_Cordy, you need-_**:**

**:**_Shut up._**:** I told Xander icily. I aimed for him, but I had a hard time lining the Locust up, because of how fast he was moving. I was used to stationary, or casually moving targets. Then, he found an open lane to run, and I aimed above him, waiting for him to reach the diamond.

"Come on you bastard." If he cut left or right now, I wouldn't be able to track him again before he was out of range. I was just praying he wasn't smarter then the average Locust.

His head was in the diamond, his upper back, lower back... "_Bang._" I whispered, as I watched him face-plant into the snow, and then slide several yards from the combined momentum. **:**_The Mohawk is down._**:** I announced proudly.

It was good to be me.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I'd finally managed to drag the Flame Boomer away from the burning building, if it weren't for the snow, I wouldn't have had a chance in hell in making it happen. As I tried to unhook the tank from his back, I watched as Cordelia came out of the building, and started walking toward me, her Longshot casually slung over her shoulder. "You wanna give me a hand here?"

She finally arrived, and immediately started in on me. "I'm going to give you my boot, you _ass_. When that place was burning down," She pointed at the inferno to her right. "Why didn't you go out the back door?"

"I couldn't get to the door after the Flamer set the place on fire." I told her simply, as I finally got the four-point harness undone. "Wanna use that boot to help me shove this slob over?"

Instead helping, Cordy went on the attack. "You would have gotten burned if I hadn't warned you." She piled it on. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but stop, okay? Just stop."

I stood up so I could look her in the eyes. "I made a mistake Cor, I'm sorry. I was just so psyched to have that Mongo shit behind us, and just be able to go out together, I got caught up..."

"I _love_ you Xander." She told me, taking my hand. "I was so worried that I was losing you before, that for a moment, I just felt like it was the same thing all over again."

She actually loved me? I was Xander Harris, too dumb to be a nerd, and not 'gifted' enough to be popular. Yet the hottest girl from Sunnydale High just told me she loved me. I couldn't help but wonder how I got so lucky.

"I pour my heart out to you, and you can't even say anything back?" Cordelia snarked, yanking her hand away from mine, and turned to leave.

"I- no, wait." I practically begged, grabbing her hand back, to keep her from walking away. "I was just _really_ surprised that you actually felt that way about me, that's all.

She turned back toward me, her face had softened, I was hoping that was a good sign.

"You shouldn't be surprised, you've done more for me in the time we've been here, then anyone else _in my life_. That especially includes Mother and Daddy, how could I _not_ love you?"

"I love you too Cor, it's just crazy to me that we could end up here, and I'm actually _happier_ with you in this _shit-hole_, then I was in Sunnydale."

"Get used to it, She told me, before planting a kiss on my cheek. "You keep coming up with compliments like that, and you're going to be happy for a long time." Then she pulled back.

I was about to reply, when I felt a sharp smack on the ass.

"Come on dork, that Flamer isn't going to roll himself over."

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

We'd managed to get the flame thrower off that fat piece of crap, and taken the Drone's heads, along what was left of the Flamer's. The damage the slug shells had done to the Drone's bodies was impressive, but the Flame Boomer's head was something else.

A part of the helmet and what was _maybe_ a quarter of his head, were all that was left. The helmet had cracked right down the middle of the rifle round holes I'd made. We weren't sure how much of a difference it would have made if I hadn't hit it first, but we weren't planning on finding out.

We'd set up the heads on the hood of a nearby car. and now, we were on our way to get the Mohawk's as well. I had the general area of where I'd hit him down, but looking through a scope, and being up close and personal were two different things.

"Is this the straight-away he took Cor?" Xander asked, as we reached a long path, clear of cars or debris.

I was getting annoyed now, I _knew_ I'd hit the son of a bitch, I didn't understand why it was this hard to find the body though. "I recognize that blue car," I told him, pointing to it on our left. "He should be right around here, somewhere..."

"I found some blood," He told me, picking up a revolver as he followed the trail around to the right. "It looks like-" He turned toward me, a look of fear on his face. "He double-"

Suddenly, hands grabbed my ankles, and pulled me down into the snow. I tried to turn my Lancer on him as I fell, but I didn't have the time.

"**_Ooh-mans_**" The Mohawk grunted, as he dragged himself out from between two cars, and onto me.

"Cordy!" Xander screamed.

I could hear his boots crunching in the snow as he ran toward us. I tried to pull my pistol, but I had no leverage, the Locust and I were practically nose to helmet by that point.

He wrapped his hands around my neck and started to squeeze. I fought desperately for air, as I tried to shove the big Locust off. There was a loud clang, as Xander's boot connected with the side of the Mohawk's head, causing him to finally let go of me.

Xander quickly shoved him off of me, and kicked him several times to put some distance between the two of us. He then grabbed it's helmet by the spikes and yanked it off.

The thing just rolled around on the ground, using his hands to try and grab us. I realized when I shot him in the back, I must have hit his spine. "I think he's paralyzed Xander."

He looked down at the Locust with pure hatred in his eyes, and I could hear the helmet creak as he gripped it tightly. "You wanna try and strangle my girlfriend mother-fucker?" Xander then stomped the Mohawk's belly and chest several times, it's thin armor offered little protection.

"**_Pathetic meat._**" The Locust growled up at him.

He flung the helmet aside, before turning back to me, clearly disgusted by the thing. "Cor, why don't we see how well that bayonet of yours works?"

I nodded, I'd wanted to test it anyway. "How about we each take a side?" I asked him, as we both ignored the grunts and groans of our captive.

Xander cracked a smile. "Works for me." He pulled off his pack, and quickly tied his Gnasher down, before he pull the Lancer free.

After bringing the chainsaw to life, he looked down at the Mohawk. "This is going to hurt, _a lot_."

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

After finally making it to the trap door house, we both collapsed on the couch. What had started out as a quick way to gain a new weapon, had turned into a full-scale fight. Even worse, my back was killing me from dragging that huge tank through the streets.

We'd left it by the door for the time being, but I wanted to put it somewhere a lot less likely to catch a bullet. Right now though, I was more worried about how Cordy would take the whole strangling thing.

She turned to me with a smile. "We kicked their asses today, huh?" Cordelia said happily. "If we could find out where they're hiding, we could burn them out, and shoot them down."

I stared at her in disbelief, I sure as hell wasn't expecting _that_ kind of response.

"Don't give me that look, just because I got a little up close with a Locust, doesn't mean we didn't do a good job overall."

I didn't know whether she was playing tough, or if she was just getting hardened to all the shit. Still, I had a nice little ice breaker. "So does this mean you _don't_ need the present I got you?"

"When did you have time to grab a present?"

"Hey, that jewelery store wasn't _always_ burning down around me, you know." I pulled a black, fuzzy box out of my pocket that was about six inches long. It had been really uncomfortable on the walk home, but it was worth it.

She opened it up with a gasp. I was really hoping that was a good thing, since I sure didn't feel like getting pegged in the head with it. "I hope you like it."

"Xander, how did you have time to get this?"

I grinned. "There was no locked door to saw through Cor, I just walked right in and started tearing the place apart, looking for something that was worthy of Queen C."

"Can you..." She handed it to me, before turned around and held up her hair.

I took it, and carefully brought it around her neck and did the clasp.

"She turned around with a big smile. "So, how does it look.

The stainless steel 'C' hung low between her thickly covered breasts. What had made me grab it though, was the clear tube that ran through it's center. The immulsion inside gave off a small, golden glow. "Perfect Cordy."

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"Are you sure you want to mess with this stuff?" Xander asked, obviously concerned over my idea.

"I'll be fine Xander, this book gives exact directions on how to do it. Plus, most of the stuff I need is easy to find."

He ran his hand through his hair as he looked over the stuff on the small desk, before coming back to me. "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will, now come here you big dork." I held out my hand to him. When he took it, I pulled him in for a kiss. When we finally broke apart, he had a goofy smile on his face. I liked the fact he still got that look just from a kiss.

"That's a great way to end a disagreement."

"If you're good, I'll think about continuing it in the future." I told him, before shoving him in the shoulder. "Now scoot, you promised me you'd try to fix my new Lancer."

After some grumbling, he left and I sat down at the desk. Looking over all of the things scattered across it, I had a good feeling about this. Making homemade bombs with common household chemicals couldn't be that hard, right?

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

"Come on you _mother-fucker_." I cursed, as I tried to get the new receiver into Cordy's bayonet Lancer. Pulling out the damaged one, and getting a new one from a spare had been relatively easy.

The problem was, the trigger itself. It kept coming loose, and it was driving me nuts. I had all the tools, plus the book to show me how to do this, but it just wasn't working how I needed it to.

I set down the small screwdriver onto the desk I was using, and took a step back. I didn't expect to be an instant expert at this, but I didn't think the rifle would fight me every step of the way either.

Dropping back into a nearby chair, I opened up a bottle of snow-water and drank half of it down in one breath. I couldn't help but wonder if Dad was right. Would the only thing I'd ever be good at in life, was a class clown and a fry cook?

Thinking it over, did I really want that bastard to be right? I stood back up, and blew out a loud breath.

After that thought, it didn't take much, I sat back down at the desk and got back to work. This trigger wasn't going to beat me, and neither were my father's words.

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

As I looked over the survival book, I fingered my new necklace. It was absolutely _gorgeous_, Xander was the perfect boyfriend. Well, sometimes he was an idiot, but that was all guys in general, just some, more then others.

Right now, I was looking to make a simple fuse bomb, light the end and run like hell. Sure grenades were a lot safer, but it wasn't like we had an unlimited supply. Plus, the more experience I got with this stuff, but better the things I could make in the future.

I didn't have a whole lot of supplies, enough to make one or two. But most of the ingredients I could find in just about any house, I was just too tired to do it right now. Carefully, I mixed the ingredients into a small plastic container, and left just enough room for the fuse.

I couldn't _wait_ to try these things out tomorrow.

**=H=H=**

**++Xander POV++**

I looked up from the desk as a knock came at the door, I didn't know why Cordelia bothered, it wasn't like we needed privacy for anything around here. "Yeah Cor."

She opened the door and came in, a smile on her face. "How's it going dork?"

"Not bad, I've got something for ya." I told her, as I turned toward around, Lancer in hand. I tossed it to her, and watched as she easily caught it.

"You fixed it, it works now?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I had a little problem with the trigger, but I worked it out." I tried not to sound like I was bragging, I was just happy it had worked.

Cordy came forward, and enveloped me in a one-armed hug. "Thank you _so_ much."

"How did things work out on your end?"

**=H=H=**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

From the tone of Xander's voice, I knew he was trying to step lightly. I was betting things hadn't been easy for him, and he probably thought I'd had the same problem.

"Everything went smoothly, the Locust are going to have some nasty presents waiting for them, next time they try to ambush us." I told him as I stepped back.

"That's good to hear," He said, obviously happy for me.

Looking around to how he'd set his work room up, I could see a bunch of Lancer magazines stacked on a bed.

"I pre-loaded a bunch of those mags earlier, take a few, for the next time we go out."

"Thanks Xander, I've been looking forward to shooting this thing since I first stole it."

He grinned. "Glad I could help, but since you're going out anyways, can you do me a favor?"

I held up the assault rifle he'd just fixed. "Like you need to ask?"

"There's a gym bag filled with the ammo we didn't have a chance to load when I cleared out that house. Can you bring it up for me, it's got some parts I want to look at."

"Sure," I grabbed several magazines on my way out. "I'll grab us some dinner on the way back up." As I headed for my work room, I heard him say something in response.

"Now I know why I decided to start dating you."

I snorted at that. "Keep dreaming mister!"

**=H=H=**

After dropping off my newest baby, I headed downstairs and stared at the pile by the door. We'd brought a lot of stuff in here over the past few days, and being so exhausted all the time, we just hadn't had the time to sort it.

Going through several bags with no luck, I came across another book. Xander hadn't mentioned a fourth one, and I was wondering if he'd just forgotten about it in all the chaos. Opening it up, I was shocked at what I'd found.

_Miranda's Journal - 28 Brume, 15 A.E._

Opening Thoughts -

Since this is a new journal, (I filled up the old one) I guess I'll let you know a little about me. When I'm old, I'll write my war memoirs, and I'll probably forget some of this stuff.

My name is Miranda Shannon Murphy, and I was born in 5 B.E. ...

This thing could give us answers to a _ton_ of unanswered questions we still had about Mongo, and the COG in general. I sat down indian-style, in the middle of the foyer, and began to read.

**=H=H=**

**END**


	16. Lost In Transition

**Headhunters**

zTiamaTz

A/N: Epic never really discussed the Seran calender at length. They've just broken the months down by season. I'm breaking it down in ninety day cycles, and this is my rough estimate of how it works:

Frost (Winter) - December, January, February

Thaw (Spring) - March, April, May

Bloom (Summer) - June, July, August

Brume (Fall) - September, October, November

**=H=H=**

**LOST IN TRANSITION**

**=H=H=**

**(All journal entries and subsequent dialog will be the POV of the writer.)**

****Miranda's Journal - 28 Brume, 15 A.E.****

_Opening Thoughts -_

Since this is a new journal, (I filled up the old one, like always) I guess I'll let you know a little about me. When I'm old, I'll write my war memoirs, and I'll probably forget some of this stuff.

My name is Miranda Shannon Murphy, and I was born in 5 B.E. I'm twenty years old and I just recently made Corporal. There isn't much of a difference in pay, but the little bit more will help Ma out.

I'm a third generation Gear, both my Da and his Da fought in the Pendulum Wars. My uncles on both sides of the family fought as well, even some aunts near the end.

They killed many of the Union of Independent Republics (UIR) scum that invaded our country. Rhilan was right next to the Republic of Gorasnaya, who decided they were going to 'protect us' from the COG.

We Rhi's truly appreciated them throwing us off our land so they could drill for Imulsion. Even more when they took to blowing up the Imulsion pipelines that killed so many our people, all to stop the COG.

Many of the women in my family had to watch their husbands, sons, and brothers die from what we learned only recently was rust-lung, or worse. My family took up arms against the UIR just as my brother Terrence and me have taken them up against the Locust now.

I've been on a few patrols, but I've only killed a few Wretches and Drones so far. I can't wait to get into the shit and kill more of those Locust bastards for all the things they've done since E-Day.

I was finally assigned to Bravo Company last week. Terrence is a Tech Sergeant for Echo Squad, he's only a few months away from the second treatment. I was hoping I'd be able to join up with him, but I don't have the experience yet.

I also met my Section leader already, First Sergeant Rodriguez got us all together yesterday. I can tell the Sergeant will be an excellent NCO, he seems friendly, but firm. He's also very handsome, and already has his second treatment, so I know he's experienced.

Unfortunately, he's married, aren't all the good ones? He even showed me pictures of his two kids, they are so cute! Jon Junior looks like a mini version of his father, and Ana is a little doll!

Sometimes I wish I could have kids, but then I wouldn't be allowed to be a Gear. There are a ton of orphaned kids out there, maybe someday I could adopt a few...

I just realized, this is my first entry and I've already filled two and a half pages! Terrence always said I talked too much, no wonder I go through journals so quickly!

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 36 Brume 15 A.E.****

_The entire Company got together for the first time, it was so exciting! There were over a hundred of us, along with the NCO's. We were broken down into four platoons and then eight sections, I'm in Section 3._

We have six King Raven pilots that rotate between Sections:

Second Lieutenant Gerald 'Pinky' Levitz (KR 2-9 Pilot)  
Tech Sergeant Francis 'Buster' Holland (KR 2-9 Co-Pilot)

First Lieutenant Arthur 'Hound' Fernandez (KR 3-7 Pilot)  
Second Lieutenant Brenda 'Killjoy' Zimmer (KR 3-7 Co-Pilot)

Captain Linda 'Tom Boy' Thomas (KR 5-8 Pilot)  
Second Lieutenant Steven 'Tuna' Carroll (KR 5-8 Co-Pilot)

My Section:

First Lieutenant Martin Dawson (Section Officer 3 & 4)  
First Sergeant Jonathan Rodriguez (Section Leader)  
Gunnery Sergeant Jamal Russell  
Corporal Davis Burton  
Corporal Miranda Murphy :)  
Specialist Robert Mason  
Private Lawrence Hall  
Private Samuel Perth  
Private Paul Sanders

Apparently, Sanders was a Corporal too, but he got busted back for mouthing off to some green Lieutenant. I hope they all aren't that touchy.

We also met our Section Officer, the guy was definitely a trip. Apparently, First Lieutenant Dawson was some kind of war hero on a secret COG mission for the past ten years. That's the rumor anyway, nobody has the balls to ask.

***M*M***

"It's real simple Gears," First Sergeant Rodriguez told us as we waited to meet our Platoon Officer. "You do your jobs and I don't have to hear about you, we'll get along fine."

I sure was happy to hear that. When I was part of a Fire Team as a private, one of the Sergeant's involved was a complete bastard. I understood the need for order and discipline, but he just went overboard.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, pull in." The big Sergeant motioned for us to come closer. "I know some of you have heard the L-T that were getting is supposed to be some kind of big deal-"

"I heard they promoted Fenix, is it him?" Burton asked excitedly, cutting him off.

Sergeant Fenix and Delta Squad had set off the Lightmass Bomb, and a year later, flooded the Hollow. Between the two offensives, they had killed thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Locust.

I couldn't help but smile, Burton's hero worship was a little kooky, but nobody would argue against the idea. Marcus Fenix, or even his partner Dominic Santiago, increased your chances of surviving big time.

Before Rodriguez could answer, a voice called out.

"Atten-shun!" Whoever it was, their voice cracked at the end. What an _ass_.

All of us instantly stood as straight as possible. You never wanted to set a bad impression with a new officer, you rarely got to shed the negative perception afterwords.

"Fall in." A booming voice called to us.

As the new Lieutenant came into view, I was a little surprised. The blonde hair along with his dimpled cheeks was not at all what I was expecting. He reminded me of those old vids of the Braxton Beach surfers.

He had a Corporal trailing along behind him like a puppy. Considering the snotty look on his face, he wasn't the usual brown-noser. Probably a Councilman, or General's son, too stupid to get commission. It had been him with his stupid 'attention' call.

"I'm going to make this very easy Gears, so pay attention." He told us, as we gathered in a semi-circle around him. "My name is First Lieutenant Martin T. Dawson." He paused, as he let that sink in.

"You may have heard a few things about me, I don't give a shit. You're here to do a job, do things my way, and I _won't_ put my boot up your ass. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" We all replied.

We watched as he pulled out a cigar, the Corporal was just _too_ pleased to light it for him.

I didn't know which was worse, the smoke, or the ass kisser. As the nasty smoke came at us, I couldn't help but wonder what this asshole would be like in the field.

"Finally, there's a nickname some of my fellow soldiers I fought with had for me. You have _not_ earned the right use it, are we clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"Glad to hear it. Now I have a briefing with Captain Watts and Major Tyson, I'm sure I'll be meeting you all again in the very near future."

Just like that, the man and his lapdog walked out of the room without another word. As soon as he was out of earshot, the group, minus the KR Pilots and Sergeants burst out laughing.

"Well, we don't know anything about the guy, except he'll put his boot up our asses and don't call him by the nickname we never heard of." Sanders said, as he caught his breath. "That about cover it Sarge?"

Rodriguez didn't look very pleased. "Yeah Paulie, it does."

As I watched this happen, all I could think was what the hell did I get myself into?

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 42 Brume, 15 A.E.****

_Guard duty blows. Every third night, it's the same old shit. Sit in one of the two guard shacks staring out into the blackness for something you won't be able to see until it's right on top of you._

Guard duty at Drake is like playing Vasgar roulette. Whoever's there will put up enough of a fight to let everyone else know to get ready. Problem is, they'll die in the process. The best part is, if the power goes out, like I heard happened two years ago, everyone inside is Kryll food.

The only bright side, is that I usually get to hang out with Nanya Douglas, a Staff Sergeant and Corpsman with Section 4. We're becoming good friends, and I just hope we get to keep the same schedule. Otherwise, it'll be unbearable.

***M*M***

"This is _bullshit_! This is the second time in three nights I'm stuck doing this."

I looked up from my card game with annoyance at Hall, who was pacing back and forth, as he continued his bitching and moaning.

"Maybe if you hadn't embarrassed your entire Section, they wouldn't have put you here." Nanya sniped at him. "Besides, it's not like you got anything better to do, since you lost your pay to that asshole in Section 5."

He whirled around at us. "Fuck _you_ Douglas, that bet should'a been a sure thing!"

"Yeah Larry, it would of been nice if you'd let us know, _before_ you set up a thrashball game with a buncha second treatment meat-heads." I added.

He stopped, knowing he couldn't defend what had quickly become a massacre. "What's a NCO doing on guard duty, huh Douglas?"

Nanya snorted. "One of my guys got a little too personal with a Stranded, 'lady of the night'. He's in the med barracks trying to recuperate from a case of TAS."

The two of us laughed at the young Private's misfortune. That egomaniac tried to put the moves on anything with a puss.

Hall could only grimace in response. I didn't blame him, a bad case of TAS, better known as 'ball burn' amongst us grunts, could get a guy's nuts clipped right off.

"Besides, Miranda is good company." Douglas added, as she threw a Colonel of Swords down on top of my Three of Grenades. I _still_ hadn't gotten the hang of this damn card game.

"Hey guys, I think I hear something out there!" Perth called out, interrupting before the argument could continue.

We all went silent, it was extremely unlikely that the Locust would hit such a worthless target as Fort Drake, but we never knew for sure. I could hear heavy breathing, and what sounded like claws against the cracked pavement.

"Should we call it in Sergeant Douglas?" He asked, with a nervous look on his face.

"Give me that." Hall told him, as he snatched the night vision lenses from the younger man.

We waited in anticipation for what he might find, this could go bad real fast.

"Congratulations," He informed Perth as he carelessly dropped the expensive device back into they young Private's lap. "You almost called command over a couple of humping dogs."

Nanya shook her head. "It's gonna be another _long_ shift girl."

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 51 Brume, 15 A.E.****

_I got chewed out, (I think?) by Dawson today. I was just looking around during drills, and he was suddenly there. It was almost like we had a 'moment' or something, I'm just not sure._

I don't know why Major Tyson thought putting an advanced training camp alongside a prison complex was a good idea, but it's not. While we're trying to go through our routines, me and the rest of the girls have to put up with the comments from those shit-head prisoners.

What I wouldn't give to go in there with a Scorcher and teach those idiots some fucking manners. I don't even know why they let them watch us, but I'll say this, they're all scared to death of the Lieutenant. He gives them a look, and they shut up real quick. How the heck did they hear of him when we haven't? Weird.

***M*M***

"The Locust are fucking stupid, most will come at you with no sense of self-preservation at all!" The Lieutenant yelled, as he walked the line. "That's not how we work, you do something stupid like that, I'll put a round in your leg!"

I shook my head, as we continued our drills. We already knew all this crap from basic, I didn't understand why the L-T had to keep this up. Those prisoners on the other side of the fence, with their stupid comments weren't helping things either.

I looked around at some of the others, and saw the others were similarly bored. I was actually _looking forward_ to guard duty now.

"Murphy! You see something interesting down, the line that I don't?" Lieutenant Dawson asked.

I almost jumped, as I turned to my right and found him standing next to me. How the hell had he done that? "No sir!"

"Yeah _Murphy_," One of the prisoners screamed. "Eyes front!"

Ignoring the man, The Lieutenant got in my face. "I _get_ that you'd rather be out in the field Murphy, I can even respect that." He told me in a low voice. "But we aren't, and we do things _my_ way. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good." He said simply, before heading further down the line. "Alright people, let's try this again!"

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 68 Brume, 15 A.E.****

_I finally got to meet up with Terrence today, I haven't seen him in almost a year! Echo Squad was passing through Fort Drake to get some rest, and get re-supplied. He'll be sticking around for at least a few days._

We decided to go out and celebrate at the local bar, Pistol Pete's. The name is kinda ironic, considering Pete was a sniper. He had to retire from Gamma Squad, after having his legs blown off by a Boomshot grenade.

We'd only been there about an hour when the trouble started. A Captain from Charlie Company was tanked, and started getting grabby. Terrence stepped up to defend me, rank be damned. Unfortunately, Captain Asshole must have brought half his Company with him.

That bastard even tried to say me and Terrence had been recruited from a fucking Stranded camp! I've never been more insulted in my life!

There were only eight of us, Echo Squad, plus me, Burton, Perth, and Sanders. None of us were going to back down, but I didn't think it was going to end well.

Then First Lieutenant Dawson showed up and wow, just wow. I know he's a hard-ass, but he really has my respect after what he did tonight.

***M*M***

Captain Barlow sneered. "It looks like you two just got pulled out of Montevado.

"Our father fought for the COG, and died in the Aspho Fields!" I screamed, outraged at the slur against our family.

We were slowly being surrounded, outnumbered three to one. As they closed in, a beer pitcher exploded against the wall, over the heads of some of the Charlie Company guys.

"Who threw that?" Barlow screamed out at the bar.

"I did asshole." A familiar voice called out from a darkened corner.

As we all turned to look at the newcomer, I could hear the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. He came into the light and I couldn't believe it, it was First Lieutenant Dawson.

"Sir I-" I tried to explain, but he quickly silenced me.

"Can it Murphy." He grunted as he lit one of his nasty cigars. "Your father was at Aspho?"

I nodded dumbly, I was just happy he wasn't screaming at me.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Shut up." He told the Captain, before turning back to me. "What was your father's name Gear?"

"Sergeant Major Shamus Murphy." Terrence told him proudly.

The Lieutenant gave my brother a nod. "He fought with Major Stroud, didn't he?"

"Yes sir, he was helping to protect one of the Stompers when she was killed. He died trying to recover her body, before those UIR bastards could get their hands on her for their propaganda vids."

"Now I could be mistaken, but didn't Major Stroud run Charlie Company?"

"Yes sir!" I replied enthusiastically. "She was posthumously awarded for their efforts. Major Stroud was awarded the Embry Star, and our father was given the Sovereigns Medal, he was her top NCO."

Dawson turned back toward Charlie Company, blowing smoke in their faces. "Now don't you pricks feel stupid?"

Most of them did look pretty sheepish. Young, dumb, and drunk... I bet most of them were probably good guys, just backing their _idiot_ Captain.

"Clear out!" The Lieutenant's voice boomed.

They quickly followed the order, a few even offered us mumbled apologies as they left. What had been an angry mob was quickly whittled down to just a few. A red-faced Captain Barlow, a Second Lieutenant, and a couple of Privates. Probably fucking brown-nosers.

"What's your name Gear?" He walked up to Dawson and got in his face. "You're on report as of now!"

The First Lieutenant simply smiled. "Ya know, I gotta wonder how a dickless son of a bitch like you ever got a commission. Any man that's gonna grope a lady, 'specially a Gear, don't deserve the rank he's got."

Captain Barlow took a clumsy swing at him, which the Lieutenant easily blocked. He countered with a punch to the stomach, and ended with another to the jaw.

The Captain stumbled back into a table, upending it, before landing on the floor covered in beer and pretzels.

Barlow's remaining supporters moved forward to intervene.

"If you boys-" Terrence started.

"And _gal_." I cut in, staring down the raven-haired Second Lieutenant.

"Thank ya sis." Terrence said, before continuing. "If you take another step, you'll be needing a stay in the medical barracks."

The odds now in our favor, eight to five, they weren't so confident now.

I turned to watch as Dawson crouched down and grabbed Barlow by the front of the shirt and pull him until they were nose to nose.

"You wanted my name asshole? It's Mongo."

The Captain visibly paled upon hearing this. I couldn't figure it out, it was a weird name, but nothing to piss yourself over.

"So you heard of me?"

Barlow simply nodded several times.

"Good, that saves me some time. If you _ever_ put your hands on _any_ of my people again, I'll fucking kill you. Got it?"

Another round of nodding followed.

Dawson simply let go of the shirt and the Captain fell back against the up-turned table.

He walked back to his table and quickly gulped down his beer, before heading toward the entrance. "Stay out of trouble Murphy." He told me, before disappearing out the door.

"That was crazy." Perth said simply.

I couldn't agree more.

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 79 Brume, 15 A.E.****

_I'm so glad we got transferred out of Fort Drake. It's about fucking time too, other then Pete's, there wasn't shit to do there._

We've been doing patrols out in the badlands going from one Stranded camp to another. The COG is always looking for new recruits, instead, we just get the same old crap.

These Stranded seem to think they can somehow survive without us fighting for them, yeah right. Yesterday, we were in one of their bigger camps, called 'Shitsville'. And these people wonder why we have no respect for them?

Anyway, us and Section 4 were trying to do some recruiting in the market. You have to go in groups, cause you never know when these people are gonna get angry over nothing. Then, multiple E-holes opened up in the middle of the place!

The whole thing turned into one big cluster-fuck. Aren't these Privates supposed to have some actual combat experience before they get placed in a Company?

All I'm going to say is, If I EVER see Private Toner again, I'm putting a bullet in his worthless head.

***M*M***

"But they killed my parents and little sister!"

I sighed, how many times did I have to hear this kind of story? It got really depressing after a while. "Look kid, I feel for you, but you're too young to be a Gear."

"I'm gonna be fifteen soon!" He yelled defensively. "I want out of this place!"

I couldn't blame him for that. We were all walking around here without our helmets, because we looked 'friendlier' that way. Too bad this whole place reeked of piss and shit.

"Alphonso!" A voice called out.

I looked over the kid's shoulder and saw a woman, running toward us. She looked to be in her seventies, but these days she could have been in her forties.

The kid turned toward her as she grabbed his arm, he struggled to pull free.

"Alphonso, come," She shook her head repeatedly. "You will not join these people!"

I decided to end this before we started getting a crowd. "Ma'am, we're not-"

The hateful glare I got in response ended that conversation. It disgusted me, how ungrateful the Stranded were.

"No Auntie, I want to kill Locust." The boy insisted, as he continued trying to pull free from the woman's grip without hurting her.

The ground started to rumble, I had a bad feeling about what was coming.

"Emergence hole!" Someone screamed, and the panic was on.

To my left, maybe thirty feet away, I saw a screaming crowd. A cloud of dust was rising from the ground. It would only be a short amount of time before the Locust started pouring out it.

I pulled the Lancer from my back and could hear some of the Gears screaming for the Stranded to clear out. I turned back toward the kid and his aunt and realized they were still arguing. _Shit_.

"We've got to-" Another rumble started and the three of us were thrown off our feet. The ground was sinking into itself directly behind the old woman.

I quickly got to my feet and pulled the kid up to his. I turned toward the aunt when a thick, gray arm came loose from the dirt and latched onto her ankle. She started screaming as I grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her back.

Alphonso went to grab her other hand but I stopped him. "Go get help kid, I've got her!" I dropped the Lancer and grabbed her with my other hand.

I watched him run toward a Private from Section 4, facing away from us. The kid was yelling at him as he ran toward him. The guy was just standing there, he must have been green as grass for this kinda brain-lock.

"Get your ass over here and help me Private!" I wasn't sure I could even be heard over the gunfire.

Suddenly, there was a hard yank and the woman was ripped from my arms and into the hole. She quickly disappeared into the loose earth. I was pissed. I looked over at the Private who's ass I was gonna ream.

Alphonso had reached him and slapped the guy on the shoulder to get his attention. The kid must have startled him, because he turned around and caught him in the face with a wild swing from the butt of his Gnasher.

I watched him aim down, probably not even noticing it was a kid. "Private no-'

Did I just watch the last members of a family die?

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 86 Brume, 15 A.E.****

_I ran into Toner today at camp, I had warned Nanya to keep him the away from me. Apparantly, she told him to request a transfer, but the arrogant little prick didn't take her seriously._

He was strolling toward the mess like nothing even happened, a big smile on his face. I ended up beating him bloody, he probably would have had a chance if I hadn't blind-sided him, but I gave him the same chance that poor kid had.

I ended up getting a mark on my file, plus guard duty every night for two fucking weeks. It was worth getting my hands on that bastard though. I hope that scar on his cheek from my ring is a permanent reminder of me.

***M*M***

"Is that the guy you were telling us about Murphy?" Mason suddenly interrupted, as we sat around, shooting the shit.

"What guy?" I asked him, trying to ignore whatever joke he, and Sanders were trying to set me up for.

"Fuckin' what's his name... _Toner_."

I immediately looked up at the use of his name, and saw the guy acting like nothing had happened. That boy didn't have anything left from the chest up, and this guy didn't care _at all_.

Something in me just snapped, I stood up, but someone grabbed my wrist.

"Think twice about it Miranda." Boyle, a fellow Rhi from Section 4 warned. "Toner's a bastard, but he isn't worth it."

I yanked my arm free and headed toward my target. "The _hell_ he isn't."

The idiot still didn't see me coming, even as I headed straight at him. Several others saw what I was going to do, but said nothing. They all knew what Toner had done, and held no sympathy for him.

"Hey Toner!"

He turned just in time for his jaw to catch my fist. Before he knew what hit him, I had him on the ground and was busy kicking the shit out of him. Nobody stopped me, instead, they just watched the beating continue. It didn't end, until an MP finally grabbed me from behind, and pulled me off of him.

It didn't matter though, I'd made my point, and hopefully, Toner would never forget it.

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 12 Frost, 15 A.E.****

_Nanya's dead, I can't believe she's fucking dead._

KR 3-7 and 5-8 were blown up in mid-air. We took a nasty shot... Pinky and Buster barely managed to land us on the ground, they're both dead. Burton and Mason are dead too.

I don't know where Dawson, Rodriguez, Hall, or Sanders are. The Raven was on fire, we bailed out on different sides and took off. For all we know, they're dead too. We've got to move again, more later.

***M*M***

I massaged my temples, as I tried to block out all of the noise in the King Raven. Between the rotors and the music, The Dross Head's song, '_Fuck the UIR!_' my head was splitting. Who knew the L-T was into those guys?

We were flying over some city called Oltura, the COG wanted us to see if there were any Stranded to recruit, and to try and spot Locust positions before we invaded, once Thaw started. I just wanted to get back to my rack, and grab some much-needed sleep.

**:**_Lieutenant Dawson, it looks like we've got some stranded down on the ground!_**:** Buster's voice came over the comms. Even with the headphones, he had to yell to be heard.

**:**_How many?_**:**

**:**_There's a girl trying to wave us down, the boyfriend doesn't look too happy about it though!_**:**

**:**_Fuck 'em, we got more important shit to deal with!_**:** Dawson growled.

**:**_You got it, heading toward Bronson's Canyon now!_**:**

**:**_Burton, get on that chain gun, soon as you see grubs, light it up!_**:** Gunny ordered.

**:**_You got it Sarge!_**:**

I looked on with envy as Burton grabbed the trigger handles on the huge gun, ready to fire at the first sight of gray skin. Lucky bastard.

**:**_We're coming around on a seven-zero-niner_**:**

**:**Shit man, they're dug in deeper then a Montevado tick!**:** Buster exclaimed.

Burton opened up, screaming obscenities at the grubs like they could hear him. I didn't blame him though, two years ago, the Locust had dragged his wife off for food. I couldn't think of a worse way to go.

**:**_Take plenty of pictures, then we're outta here._**:** The Lieutenant ordered as he looked out the opposite side of the Raven from Burton, disgust written all over his face.

**:**_Already happening, we're just finishing off the- What?_**:**

**:**_What's going on Holland?_**:** Dawson questioned.

**:**_Tuna on 5-8 is reporting mortar crews! Taking evasive action, hold on tight!_**:**

All of a sudden, there was an explosion somewhere above us, shaking the entire chopper. Shortly after, we got hit. The Raven pulled to the left suddenly and we started to slide.

I caught my balance, and saw that Burton had swung out on the chain gun, and he was hanging by one hand. **:**_Burton, hang on!_**:** Perth and I grabbed a hold of the other handle and tried to swing him back in.

**:**_3-7 and 5-8 are fucking gone, we're going down!_**:** Buster screamed.

The Raven cut back hard right, as Pinky and Buster tried desperately to get us on the ground. All I could do was watch in horror, as Burton lost his grip, and fell to his death. **:**_We lost Burton!_**:**

**:**_Just hold on Murphy, there's nothing we can do now!_**:** Rodriguez tried to reassure me.

**:**_We're comin' in hard, get ready to bail!_**:** Pinky screamed.

**:**_Oh shit!_**:**

We bounced of the street several times, knocking into old cars along the way. Our momentum didn't stop until we crashed into the corner of a building, destroying the whole front of the chopper and killing our pilots instantly.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mason lying next to me, his neck was turned at a strange angle. Then I noticed the Raven was on fire. I grabbed Mason's wrist and tried to drag him out of the burning chopper, but someone grabbed my shoulder. Turning, I saw it was Gunny Russell.

"We got to get out of here Murphy!" The big man screamed, as he tried to yank me away.

I struggled to break free, I didn't want to leave him behind. "But Mason-"

"Forget 'em, he's gone!" Russell then dragged me down the street, as Perth covered our escape...

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 12 Frost, 15 A.E.****

_Perth and me are sitting in some abandoned house, hiding from the Locust right now. With nowhere to go, I figured I might as well write down what's happening. Gunnery Sergeant Russell said we should head toward that building with the smoke coming out, now he's dead._

It's sick, but I always wanted to see a chainsaw duel, and it finally happened. Russell even won, not that it fucking matters now though. This was supposed to be another routine mission. See if there were any Stranded to recruit, and do a quick fly-over to see the Locust defenses, what the hell happened?

***M*M***

"Move your ass Private!" I screamed as I fired on full-auto at anything with gray skin. We were being chased down by Drone's, Bolter's, Sniper's, and Cyclops'. They were trying to cut us off any chance they got.

Perth was trying to play war-hero right now, and I wasn't going to let that happen. On leave, a few of us flew out to Narcusti, a small town fifty miles from Drake. Perth grew up there, and his mother invited all of us over for dinner. After meeting that wonderful woman, I _wasn't_ going to deliver his tags home to her.

As soon as he was close enough, I dragged him back into the alley that Gunny and I had taken cover in. I didn't know how close we were to the house with the smoke, but I just hoped the Stranded there would help us, rather then shoot at us.

Perth got a whack on the back of his helmet. "Quit trying to be a hero dumbass!" Sergeant Russell ripped into him. "You don't need to be _that_ far behind to cover slack!"

As I continued to return fire, taking out a Bolter, I hoped the Sarge had a plan. The longer we stayed here, the more time the Boomer's had to catch up. That was the _last thing_ we fucking needed.

"Murphy, let's go." I nodded, and back down the alley, Lancer at the ready. We could hear the boots pounding, and the Locust's grunts as they got closer.

Suddenly, there was a loud band, and the sound of a chainsaw running. Turning around, I saw Russell knock Perth aside as he brought his own Lancer up against a Cyclops coming out of a doorway. I watched in awe as the big Gear and Locust fought back and forth to kill the other.

Finally, Gunny got the better of the thing, shoving it's chainsaw aside, and cutting the things head in half down the middle. "Perth, grab that thing's ammo and move." He jammed a frag into the doorway and moved forward.

I stayed with Perth as he grabbed up the ammo and shoved it into any available compartment he could find. A Drone suddenly appeared in the hallway the Cyclops had come out of, I quickly shot him down. "Enough Private, go."

We headed in the direction Russell had gone, and heard an explosion and scream. We rushed forward and around the corner, a Grenadier was standing over him, a Gnasher in hand. He looked up, just in time for Perth to put three rounds of buckshot into him.

Reaching the big man on the ground, I could see his right leg was gone, and there were several large holes in his armor. "What hap-"

"Get the fuck out of here, now." He insisted, as I tried to figure out where to start.

"I'm not leaving you like I did Mason." I turned to Perth, who was just standing there in shock. "Keep watch, anything comes around that corner, take it's fucking head off."

Perth fired several shots, but had to slam the Gnasher onto the back of his armor and pull his Hammerburst rifle, since he had no time to reload.

"Mason's dead, so am I." Russell growled. "Get him," He jammed his finger repeatedly toward Perth. "And get out of here."

An explosion came from the alley we'd just been in, there was nothing else between us and them.

"Murphy, you're never gonna be able to drag me outta here _and_ get away."

I heard a scream, looking up, I could see the Private clutching his right arm. Tears streamed down my face, I didn't want to leave anyone. My father couldn't even leave a _body_ behind.

"I'm gonna make it real simple for you."

I heard two clicks and turned around to see Gunny with a frag in each hand, both were primed, all he had to do was let go. I took off my helmet and leaned down, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Perth, we're out of here!" I called, as I replaced my helmet.

The young Private finished off his clip, reloading as he came toward us. He looked down and saw the two grenades. "What's-"

I grabbed his arm and yanked him away. We finally cleared the alley, and out into an empty street, when we heard a Locust scream.

"**_Rahh!_**"

"Fuck you!" Russell screamed, then the ground shook as twin explosions rocked the alley.

"Come on," I pulled Perth by his good arm. "Let's find a place to hole up for the night."

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 13 Frost, 15 A.E.****

_We found Dawson and those Stranded today. The guy was burned up real bad, he said he had a run-in with a Flame Boomer. It looked like he'd crawled toward the Stranded for help, when he just ran out of energy. I doubt they ever knew he was even there._

The fucking Flame Boomer caught him on the left side. His left arm, and that side of his face, are a total loss. The surfer boy looks are gone. I wanted to talk to the Stranded for help, but he said no, he insisted I use one of those ESB's (Electrical Synapse Blockers) on him for the pain.

I am NOT a Corpsman, the only reason I even had that thing is because Nanya's right-side armor compartment wouldn't stay closed. I tried to follow the directions, but the Lieutenant was in so much pain, he grabbed it when I wasn't looking, and shoved it into his own skull.

He seems to have calmed down, but it was supposed to go in at the base of the skull. Who knows what the effects are going to be long term?

By the time all of that was done, it was dark, and we couldn't tell what house the Stranded had gone into. Perth wanted to start banging on doors, but that's a great way to get shot. We'll just have to find them tomorrow.

***M*M***

"Murphy, look." Perth grabbed my arm to get my attention.

On the ground, face down on the street, was a Gear. As I hurried toward him, I saw the markings of a Lieutenant, it was Dawson. After reaching him, Perth and I flipped him over as gently as possible.

The Private gagged as we got a look at what had happened to the man, I didn't blame him. Something had melted the skin off of his left arm and face, and the scorch marks on his armor were black as night.

It didn't take much to realize the big man had a nasty run in with a Flamer, either a Boomer, or a Grenadier. I just didn't know what we were going to _do_ about it.

"Are those the Stranded we were looking for?"

Looking down the street for the first time, I could see two Stranded dragging another armored body, at first I thought cannibals, but then I realized they had dug graves. Since _when_ did they give a shit about Gears?

"Fuck." A voice growled behind us.

I whipped my Lancer around, and realized the L-T was awake. I stayed low, not wanting to get the Stranded's attention until we knew more about them.

"What happened Lieutenant Dawson?" Perth asked as we came up to him.

"Fucking... Flame- Boomer." He managed to grunt out.

I could tell he was in agony, I'd gotten a small burn from the pilot light on a Scorcher during boot camp, and I'd thought _that_ was painful. By pure luck, I had one of Nanya's ESB's on me, as well as a few other things, but I wasn't qualified to use them.

The Lieutenant limbs went rigid as he tried to deal with the pain, I could see tears coming from his good eye, and he was definitely trying to repress a scream.

"Sir," I paused, not sure how to explain things while he was in the condition he was in. "I'm not sure what to do, I've got one of these ESB's, but I don't-"

"Use it." He ordered.

I was really surprised, I was just never really sure what he was thinking. "But sir, I-"

"Murphy, you _owe_ me."

I watched as his breathing increased, the pain must have been pure hell.

"Okay." I told him, as I pulled the thing out from one of my leg compartments. I carefully unwrapped it, and started to read the instructions. I wasn't going to fuck this up.

"They're bringing back another body." Perth interrupted.

"How many?" The only people still missing were the Sarge, Hall, and Sanders. I hoped at least _one_ of them was still out there.

The young Private shook his head. "Looks like three."

"Fuck-" I looked down to get the ESB, and saw it was gone. That was the only one I had! I scanned the street desperately, trying to see if it had rolled off of the plastic. Then I saw it in the hands of Lieutenant Dawson. "Sir, I don't think that's a good idea."

He turned to me, his remaining good eye staring right at me. "I can't take it Murphy." With that said, he plunged it into the back of his head. Immediately after, he had some kind of seizure.

I tried to hold Dawson down with one hand, while using the other as a cushion for the back of his head. I saw Perth just standing there, watching this go down.

"Private." I hissed.

Broken from his shock, he jumped in to help. Between the two of us, we were able to hold him down until the seizures stopped.

"Come on Perth." I told him as he helped me pull the big man up between us, each throwing an arm around our shoulders.

"What about them?" He asked, motioning back toward the Stranded with his head.

"We'll contact them tomorrow, let's get going."

***M*M***

****Miranda's Journal - 14 Frost, 15 A.E.****

_This is bad. Everything is going completely out of control, and I don't know what to do about it. Since the Lieutenant regained consciousness, he's been acting crazy, and it's taking everything I've got just to keep things from getting worse._

Last night, while he was still out, I checked the three graves the Stranded had dug. It's Rodriguez, Hall, and Sanders. Which is fucked, since Perth is just a kid, any one of those guys could have really helped with Dawson.

Now, he wants me to go on patrol and leave Perth at the warehouse. I'm amazed he knew the streets it was on, we had a heck of a time finding it anyways. I'm hoping MAYBE, I can talk some sense into him on patrol. More when I get back.

***M*M***

"But Lieutenant, those Stranded might need help." I plead, as we walked down the street, looking for signs of Locust activity.

"Those people are nothing but fucking animals." He growled. "The most they deserve is a bullet, now drop it."

I was shocked to hear this coming from him. While he definitely wasn't the warmest man in the world, he'd never been so indifferent about a non-Locust before, not even Captain Barlow.

"You're starting to worry me, that ESB wasn't implanted properly, and I think it's messing with your head." There, I said it.

He suddenly whirled on me, grabbing my shoulders and slamming me against a wall. "Listen you bitch, _I'm_ in charge here. Those Stranded left me to die, once the Locust have thinned out, we're going to kill the lot of them, and take any supplies they got."

"Sir," I said hesitantly, he glared down at me, waiting for my response. I just hoped he'd actually _listen_. "They buried Rodriguez, Hall, and Sanders, even left the COG tags, instead of trying to sell them back to the families. I don't think they knew you were there."

"Are you fucking stupid?" He asked as he shoved me, to the side, almost causing me to fall over. "They're the ones that killed them!"

Oh shit, he'd completely lost it. Between the burns and the ESB, his brain was fucking _fried_. What was I supposed to do, shoot him? That was a great way of getting put in front of a firing squad.

Distracted with trying to figure out what to do, I never saw the punch coming. Before I knew it, I was on my back, with the L-T standing over me.

"You really disappointed me Murphy, I never thought you would be a traitor."

Before I could make any kind of argument in my defense, I saw his boot coming down at my helmet.

**=H=H=**

**A/N 2: I have tried to be as accurate as as I could, with how the COG and the Gears work. But there were still a fair amount of gaps to fill in. Wherever possible, I filled them in with current military structure.**

A/N 3: In my attempts to 'pretty up' my chapters a bit, I used some code that made this story un-viewable to some of my regular readers. This was not my intention, and as you can see, I have removed all of the offending code. I apologize for the inconvenience.

**=H=H=**

**Disclaimer: The song '_Fuck the UIR!_' is owned by The Dross Heads, and the COG Propaganda Department. Non-sanctioned use of this song will result in a ten thousand credit fine, and/or a sentence of two years hard labor.**

**=H=H=**

**END**


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